The Witch of Elysion
by justforfum
Summary: When crime is afoot in the massive sky-metropolis Elysion, the city security can only do so much. But with superpowers at your disposal, fighting evil-doers should be a breeze, right?
1. Chapter 1: A Call for Aid

The door was shut behind the young woman with a resounding click. The indoor windows rattled, shaking some of the dust that had built up on the dark green blinds. She stood there, hands folded in front of her as she stared at the ugly turquoise and off-white tile floor. The sound of boots on tile made its way around her towards a wooden office desk.

The desk's surface was marred with coffee mug-stains and a collection of neatly organized stationary. Awards and commendations hung on display just over a computer monitor, ranging from "Medal of Valour" to "Exemplary Bravery", all bearing a single name: Elesis Sieghart.

"Have a seat, Aisha," the red-headed woman said, sliding a worn lounge chair in front of her guest. The young woman took it, adjusting her long, purple locks while the red-head flopped onto her office chair across from her with a heavy sigh. As Aisha sat there quietly, she could feel Elesis's eyes searching her. Aisha kept her attention to the tile floor, fidgeting nervously as she fingered a small golden band wrapped around her right ring finger.

"I called your grandfather," Elesis said, glancing at her computer screen and closing a few windows, "So he should be here to pick you up in about… thirty or so minutes. Coffee?"

Aisha heard the flick of a switch and the soft bubbling sound of a kettle followed soon after. The young woman shook her head, quietly declining to the offer before returning her gaze to a crack on one of the tiles. She nudged it with her toe and the tile scraped against the concrete under it.

"Alright, then. Since we have time," Elesis continued as she placed a small recording device onto the desk. Aisha glanced up at Elesis, who plastered on the best, comforting smile she could onto her face.

It didn't help.

"I want you to do something for me… while… it's still fresh in your mind, if you could."

Aisha stared long and hard at the recording device, her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. Her finger spun the ring in her hand once more as she tried to find the words to explain exactly what she wanted to convey. But there was just so much. Where to begin? Where to end? Would any of it even make sense?

It felt like minutes had passed before she spoke, yet the soft tick of the clock seemed to crawl on for an eternity between seconds.

"I," she began, her voice rough after not speaking for what she felt had been ages, she shook her head, "I don't-"

Elesis shifted in her seat, leaning back with another sigh accompanied with an understanding pout. "If you don't want to talk about it, I completely understand. My little brother was caught in the mix, after all, and it's hard for me to even think of… But you were there. And I just want to get the details straight. The sooner we can figure out what happened, the sooner we can bring those accountable to justice."

Those accountable. Who really was accountable? Was everyone? Was anyone really at fault? Was it-?

"Was the witch involved in any of this?"

Aisha blinked, her purple eyes fixing onto crimson, "Huh?"

"The Witch of Elysion," Elesis said, "Was she the cause of all this?"

"Th-that's… hard to say for sure."

"But she was there, wasn't she?"

"I… I believe I saw her," Aisha muttered.

"What'd she do?" Elesis fired back quickly, "Aisha, I know this is difficult but people were hurt in this incident; my brother is in critical condition."

"I don't think she intended to-"

"All I need is a reason," Elesis interrupted once more, cracks in her calm, comforting expression beginning to slip through, "Just tell me she was the one that did this and I'll have the entire police force hunting her down. I can do it-I will."

The kettle dinged and it was then that Elesis realized she was standing, leaning over her desk and caused the purple-headed woman to sink into the lounge chair.

"S-sorry," Elesis cleared her throat. She turned and began pouring the water into a cup. "Coffee?"

"You… already asked me," Aisha mumbled.

"O-oh. Right. Yeah. One lump or two?" Aisha could see Elesis's hands shake as they handled the cup.

"Two please," the young woman said, a defeated neutrality in her voice.

Elesis slid a cup with a printed line separating the words "bad cop" and "good cop" from the top and bottom of the mug, respectively. Aisha took the cup, letting the heat warm her hands as she gazed into the black oil at the reflection of her own face. Did she really look like that? Lost and confused? It probably didn't make Elesis feel any easier staring at a face like that. She probably read it as one of a scared and bewildered bystander to the chaos that happened just an hour ago. But it was more than that. Much more. And frankly, Aisha was at her wits end. This wasn't supposed to happen. She made a promise to never let it get this bad. One person can only do so much. She needed help. But who could she turn to?

A hand was extended across the desk and it gently cupped hers. As if answering her question, Elesis gave her a genuinely comforting smile, "It's okay, Aisha. You don't have to say anything. I understand."

Aisha could tell her-no. She couldn't. She absolutely could not. After what happened to Elsword, Aisha didn't want anyone else close to her to get involved.

The purplette's eyes met with Elesis's once more. In those red pools, Aisha could sense a feeling of desperation. She deserved to know. More than anyone else in the world, Elesis needed to know.

Aisha exhaled, her eyes falling on the small golden band on her ring finger as she tried to compose herself. Her body trembled as she opened her mouth to speak once more.

"I'll… tell you what I know," she began.

* * *

Aisha hurriedly made her way down the busy arcade district of Elysion Tower 5. Just the sheer amount of civilians that crowded the streets at this hour made her sick to her stomach. Still, this was as close as the taxi driver could get without being restricted to the pedestrian-only streets of the enormous shopping zone. The taxi flew overhead, honking wildly as it forced its way into the grid-locked sky-way that ran directly over the district.

Her window was closing, or rather, the shop she wanted to get to was closing. Of course her work shift would end at the later half of the evening. Of course Tower 9, where she worked, would be at the opposite end of the metropolis super-structure from Tower 5. And of course traffic had to be at its busiest even at this time of night on a weekday. As she pushed her way through the crowds, she watched in horror as a Nasod android began closing the gates to the hardware store she had tried so hard to reach in time.

"No, no, no, no!" Aisha threw herself at the glass door only to find it locked. The android paused, turning its head to her and flashing her a customer friendly smile before giving her an apologetic bow.

"We're sorry, but the Replacement Shop is closing now. Please return at normal business hours tomorrow at-"

"I just need to get in there real quick!"

"We're sorry, but the Replacement Shop is closing now. Please return-"

"Gah!" Aisha pounded the glass with her fist before giving the door an angry kick with the tip of her pointed heels. She turned, leaning against the door with an exasperated groan as she listened to the distant drone of emergency sirens. She stared up at the holo-projected night sky high above, its stars replicating that of the outside world had it been a clear night. In reality it wasn't a clear night. Squinting past the beautiful galaxy-laden stars, Aisha could just make out the flashes of lightning outside Tower 5… and… what appeared to be something else in the sky.

Another flash of lightning and Aisha's eyes focused on the speck. Contrary to what she thought, the object wasn't outside, rather, it was inside the dome. And it was hurtling… towards her!

It drew closer; flashes of white, pink, and blue could be seen. It slammed into one of the sky-taxis, sending it rolling out of control onto the busy district and before Aisha knew it, she had to dive out of the way as the object came crashing into the shop she had just tried to force herself into.

Screams filled the streets as the sound of shattering glass and crumbling stone could be heard throughout the area. As the initial ring of her ears dissipated, through the torrent of panic and chaos that surrounded Aisha was dazed but relieved to find herself largely unscathed. She lifted her head, trying to regain her bearings when voices from within the shop caught her attention.

"Stay out of this, witch. This matter is none of your concern!" the male growled.

Aisha, still rocked from the impact of the object, turned her attention to the source of the voice. Peeking into the destroyed shop, she spotted a man clad in high-tech suit of white and blue armor plating. He stood at medium height and his face was hidden under a thick plated helm. At his side was a massive looking weapon which, at first glance, looked like nothing any normal human could hold with two hands let alone one like he did.

A pile of rubble began to shift as a hand came out from under it. After a moment, another hand appeared as a woman dressed in what appeared to be an elaborate white and pink suit that did little to protect her body pulled herself from the wreckage with as little as a few scratches across her body.

"You don't have to do this! We can resolve this peacefully!" the female voice yelled.

"Peace? _Peace?!_ That _thing_ killed my father, and you want peace?!" He pointed skyward and Aisha followed his gesture to a black speck high in the sky.

"Elysion police! Hands up! Both of you!" a familiar redhead with a party of five other officers appeared, guns drawn and pointed at the two people within the ruined shop.

"Elsword…" Aisha whispered, trying to help herself up. He didn't seem to hear her as his focus was strictly on the witch and the armored man.

"She's not well!" the witch argued, "If you just give me a chance to speak to her-"

"If you don't let me do this, I'll give you plenty of time to speak to each other when you're both rotting in hell!" the man then turned to the police officers, "And that goes for all of you as well! I won't let any of you get in my way! Not when there's a more dangerous criminal on the loose! If anyone should be arrested it should be that _thing_ up there!"

With that, the man pulled a lever on his weapon, loading a round before flipping it and mounting it on his shoulder. He pointed the cannon at the speck in the sky. "This is for murdering my father!"

"No!" the woman pulled herself free and threw herself at the man, knocking him to the side just as he pulled the trigger. The red round shot out of the cannon at an angle that horrified both of them. It connected with a steel beam that supported the rest of the building. The resulting explosion caused the surviving walls to crumble onto the streets and on top of fleeing civilians… and on the police officers.

* * *

"So it was the witch's fault…" Elesis concluded, listening intently as she leaned forward on the desk, "That's all I wanted to hear. I'll let the press know that the Witch of Elysion is no doubt a criminal."

"Well… no not exactly," Aisha muttered, her voice shrinking in volume as she gripped her untouched coffee mug.

"You said it yourself, she's the one that redirected the shot that injured dozens and could have very well killed my brother."

"She didn't mean to… I think…"

"You think? You _think?!_" Elesis ran a hand through her red locks as she tried to piece together a sentence that wouldn't degrade her professionalism, "I've been trying to put that witch behind bars for _three years_. You should see the casefile for that crazy woman. I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to her crimes. Property damage, assault, theft… I might as well just check everything off the list! And you _think_ she didn't mean to hurt all those people?"

The purplette didn't know where to go from here. This was as far as she could go without outright saying it. But wasn't that the idea in the first place? That enough was enough? In her head, she could hear grandpa scolding her for the hundredth time: "You're only one person. It's okay to rely on others for help."

To an average person, this would make sense. To an average person, it would be absolutely fine to turn to others for moral support. Aisha couldn't. Not without putting the lives of the people she cared about at risk.

Aisha didn't. And all of this happened to Elsword, anyways. She couldn't go on like this. Not alone.

She shook her head. "No. I _know_ she didn't mean to. The witch would never willingly bring harm to others… especially Elsword."

"Unbelievable. Aisha, would you listen to yourself? You're defending a terrorist! With a track record as expansive as hers, what makes you think she even knows the name of the officer she almost killed?"

"Because!" Aisha began but stopped herself. This was it. She knew once she crossed that line, there was no turning back. And as she stood at that metaphorical cliff edge, she hesitated, fear overcoming her.

Aisha couldn't tell her.

She had to.

But what would Elesis think? What would she say?

"Aisha…" the redhead's brow furrowed as she leaned forward on her chair once more, her trained eyes read the woman's expression as clearly as a book, "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

The purplette swallowed hard, her eyes searching the room for something-anything that would help her in this moment of truth. Her purple orbs fell on the recorder sitting between them and she held her breath as she slowly turned her focus back on Elesis.

"Elesis… despite all the ups and downs I've been through with your brother, you're still my friend, right?"

"Of course! You're practically my little sister. But what does this-"

"And no matter what, you'd always have my back, right?"

"Aisha?"

The purplette's eyes fell on the recording device once more. Elesis immediately picked up on this, and the lieutenant slowly reached for the device, stopping the recording and setting it aside. Worry stricken, the lieutenant turned her attention back to Aisha, expecting the worst from the young woman. She had no idea what she was about to get into.

"The witch would never willingly hurt Elsword… because _I_ would never hurt him."

"Aisha? What are you-"

"I'd never willingly put other people's lives in danger. All I'd want… all the witch would want is to save lives."

It took only a moment for Elesis to process what she was saying. And then it all clicked. Her eyes widened, her body tensed, and she nearly fell out of her chair when she stood up. Aisha saw as Elesis's hand subconsciously reach for her gun. It hurt seeing her react so strongly to the revelation.

"Aisha! You're…!"

The young woman nodded, "I am."

Elesis slowly shook her head. "No. No, no, no. This is a joke, right?"

"It's not."

"But you could've killed my brother!"

"I _saved_ him."

"How?"

* * *

"No!" With her free hand, the witch raised her staff and the ripples of space reverberated off of the crown. Time slowed to a crawl around her as the witch tried to wrench herself from the ruins. The heavy click of a fresh round being chambered into the cannon was distorted as time passed by the milliseconds. One by one, her limbs were freed, the metal and concrete cutting deep into her skin. By then, the round hand been chambered and the cannon was in the process of being mounted on the the man's shoulder. She threw herself at the armor-clad man just as the slow spell came to an end, knocking him off balance. They both watched in horror as the round connected with the last support column that held the rest of the building up.

The building lurched and groaned as the final wall came crumbling down on top of the officers standing at the shop entrance.

Time was slowed once more as the witch rolled off the armor-clad man. She, unaffected by the time shift, hurriedly pushed through the building's dust and debris as she searched for each individual police officer. She found one, pulling him to safety as a steel beam was just about to crush him. The second was on the floor, and she dragged him out and away from the crumbling column. The third and fourth were shoved aside into the street.

By then the second of slowed time was almost up. She hadn't found Elsword yet.

Pushing through the debris, she found him, arms up as a large portion of concrete and steel was mere moments from crushing his body. With her time nearly up, she quickly raised her staff, channeling a second spell that filled the falling debris with a glowing white light.

The second was up. Time resumed its normal pace.

Elsword fell on his back as the sound of crushing debris fell around him. A sharp pain filled his lower body. A slab of concrete had crushed everything from his waist down.

"I missed… that one…" someone said with a labored grunt.

Looking up, Elsword's eyes widened as he saw the witch standing over him with an entire building segment balanced precariously on her back.

"Sorry… officer," she gasped, "but could you please… move to safety? I can't… hold much longer."

The redheaded police officer nodded, struggling to move under the weight of the concrete.

"Hold on," the witch grunted. She shifted her stance, and with a swift kick, the block was moved aside. Elsword cried out in pain.

"Cry about it later! Move, now!"

"It's getting away!" the armor-clad man shouted, his eyes trained to the sky. At the corner of her eye, she saw the man make a hasty retreat at the sound of approaching sirens.

"This isn't over, witch!" In one powerful leap, the man in the suit was gone.

Elsword crawled his way weakly out of immediate danger and seeing this, the witch dropped the crumbling building wall.

* * *

"After that… he fell unconscious. And the rest is history," Aisha said, cradling the coffee mug in her hands. Her focus remained solely on the black oil, but she could see Elesis's facial expression through the liquid reflection. She wasn't happy.

"And you expect me to believe all of this? To just take it at face value?"

"Why would I lie to you now?"

"You say you're the witch. I've known you since you were a kid. You wouldn't hurt a fly."

"And that's the mentality that I have whenever I go out there to save lives!"

"You are not the witch!"

"I _am_!"

"Prove it."

Aisha tensed at the order and, looking up at the woman, she saw that Elesis wasn't playing around anymore.

"Alright… fine," Aisha tentatively set the cup aside, standing up off the chair and away from the desk, "Just… promise you won't shoot me when I do the whole… transforming stuff."

"The what?"

Before Elesis could make sense of what she was saying, a bright flash filled the room. Her clothes dissipated, leaving her wrapped in a layer of light. Her hair whipped about wildly, twisting into curls as the ring around her finger created a mystical pink thread that began to coil around Aisha's body.

The thread knitted itself into a white and pink outfit, one that Elesis immediately recognized as the witch's. Aisha's hair was magically tied into pigtails and the ring created a staff that she took in her hand.

As the transformation completed itself, a strange aura surrounded the witch. Although her face was clear to see, there was something about it that made her unrecognizable to the uninformed spectator.

The witch stood before the lieutenant, her shyness getting the better of her as Elesis looked her over.

With her little exhibition done, the witch exhaled, the clothing dissipating around her and replaced with her ordinary work clothes from moments earlier. The hair fell from their curled pigtails to the simple untied straight style and the aura that had hidden her identity all but vanished.

The entire time, Elesis stood with her mouth agape, unsure of what to make of the situation she had unknowingly gotten herself into.

"Why would you reveal this to me?" Elesis asked, her voice as serious as ever.

"Because, believe it or not… I need your help."

"My _help_?" the lieutenant scoffed, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have you arrested here and now."

Aisha shut her eyes, sighing as she tried to calm her own emotions down. To have someone else close to her turn on her like this… was too much to bear.

"Because your brother wouldn't have survived this long without me."

Elesis was silent for a long moment. She clearly wasn't going to let up that easily. Of course she wasn't. She was, after all, one of the few people Aisha looked up to.

"I don't believe you. The witch has done nothing but cause trouble in my city-"

"And yet you insist I wouldn't hurt a fly!" Aisha pleaded, "Please, Elesis. Believe me when I say this, all those bad things that you think the witch has done? They're wrong. She was there to _prevent_ it from getting any worse. What kind of officer would have the strength to stop a runaway sky train? What kind of officer would have the speed to save children from burning buildings? What kind of officer would be able to apprehend armed robbers without firing a single shot?"

"One that follows the rules and prevents the incidents from happening in the first place!" Elesis fired back, "I get it. We're not as strong or fast or have abilities like you, but the way I see it: wherever _you_ go, trouble follows. And I'd rather all that trouble follow you to maximum security, where you belong."

She straightened up, watching Aisha as the words sunk in. Yet when Elesis saw the pain and incredulity build in those bright purple eyes, her expression softened. This was Aisha, after all. She always had her back. Here she was asking for help and Elesis was threatening to throw her in jail. And if what she was saying was true… then her brother...

A knock on the door. They both turned to it as an officer poked his head in.

"Uh, lieutenant? Someone's here to pick up Miss Landar."

The two women stared at each other for a brief moment and Aisha could feel Elesis glaring straight into her soul. She shut her eyes, waiting for the arrest order.

A heavy sigh.

"That's her grandfather. Tell him she'll be down in a moment."

Aisha's eyes shot open as Elesis sank into her seat, exhaustion heavy in her eyes.

"Will do," the officer shut the door, leaving the two to wallow in the tension of the room for a moment longer.

Aisha waited but the lieutenant said nothing more. "Y-You're… not going to arrest me?"

"Tiffany's," Elesis muttered, reaching for a cigarette.

"Huh?"

"The diner. I want you there at eight AM sharp tomorrow. We'll discuss your situation then."

Aisha stood there, bewildered at the suggestion. "So… I'm off the hook?"

"If you're so much as a second late I'll have the entire police force ready to escort you to your cell. I know where you live, after all. Don't make me regret this."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Taee and Akina for editing this! Cover art was created by Oleoys from the Elsword Amino! Thank you so much for a job well done! New story, old idea that I've been rolling around in my head for a few months. This is the story I've mentioned a few other entries ago. Hopefully this is something you all will find interesting. let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2: Origins

**A/N: Big thanks to Mirai-Akina for proofreading this chapter. Its a bit long and it must've been really tedious fixing all my comma mistakes from beginning to end. Please check her stories out! I would be lying if I said her pokemon/precure crossover fic didn't inspire this story. Anyways, here's one giant chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

The old red hover car rumbled to a stop in front of a diner, separating itself from the congested morning commute from the overhead skyway. The clock on the dashboard read five minutes before eight, and the aged male driver looked at his passenger with a smug, knowing smile.

"See, Aisha?" he said, his voice slow and shaky, "I told you you'd be on time." He was an old fellow, recently turned eighty just a week ago. Though his back was beginning to hunch, and his hair was grey, the man still insists that the already receded hairline would grow back when the winter season returned. This was, of course, nearly ten years overdue, but the purple-haired young woman humored him every time the need to express his youthful heart surfaced.

"Thanks, grandpa," Aisha smiled back, feigning a look of defeat, "I shouldn't have doubted you."

The old man leaned over to her side, peeking through the window as he looked up at the worn sign hung above the beat up, aqua blue trailer-restaurant. "Tiffany's Diner," the sign read, "Open 24/7!".

"It's been a while since I've last dropped you off here," he said as his granddaughter gathered her things and unbuckled her seatbelt, "Haven't been here since… well, you and _that boy_ were together."

"You can say his name, grandpa," Aisha giggled, "Elsword and I are on good terms. We just… grew apart." Looking out the window, she spotted long red locks sitting at one of the corner booths inside the diner. She leaned over and kissed the tiny old man on his forehead. "I'm here to see his sister, anyways-more of last night's incident to discuss."

"Last night," a scowl appeared on his wrinkled face, "Honestly, I'm just glad you're still in one piece. Do you need me to pick you up afterwards?"

"No, it's okay. It's going to take a while. I did call in sick from work, afterall." Aisha stepped out of the hover car, giving her grandpa a wave. With that, the old red vehicle hummed to life once more and floated its way back onto the skyway.

Aisha drew in a chilly morning breath and exhaled steam, pulling the brown trench coat tighter over her body. She subconsciously thumbed the ring on her right ring finger as she stood in front of the diner entrance as a way to brace herself for what's to come.

The doorbell dinged, signalling her entrance, and immediately the waitress's eyes were on the purplette, who shined her a smile before welcoming her to the diner.

"Have a seat anywhere! Coffee?" the waitress offered, already pulling up a kettle of boiling hot brew.

Aisha declined, scanning over the few patrons before setting her sights on the red-head sitting at the far corner of the trailer. "I'm just here to see someone."

The lieutenant looked up from her datapad upon hearing Aisha's voice. She tapped her watch, raising an eyebrow at her, prompting the purplette to hurry to her table.

"I'm not late," Aisha stated, taking a seat across from Elesis in the corner booth.

"You're not early, either," the red-head replied, a look of impatience and lack of sleep clearly visible in her eyes. She looked out the window towards the beat-up red hover car still waiting for a spot into the skyroad. "How's Kuenbaran's restaurant been? Haven't eaten there in years."

Aisha shrugged, "Grandpa's business is fine. I still consider the place a hole-in-the-wall. But that's the way he likes his business, so he's happy."

Elesis nods passively. They both watch as the car slots itself in an open spot. The sky above them is congested with enough vehicles to nearly blot out the morning sun. Aisha silently whispered a prayer that her grandpa will make it home safely in that traffic before turning her attention back to Elesis.

"And, uh… How's _he_ been?" Aisha doesn't need to say his name, for her brother had clearly been on the forefront of her mind since the accident last night.

The lieutenant sighed, shrugging her shoulders as she set the datapad aside, "Els hasn't woken up yet. Doctors say it's a light coma due to the shock but… unfortunately it only gets worse from there."

"Is he… going to be okay?"

"Define 'okay'," Elesis snorted, "He'll live… That's all you need to know."

"Thank gods. At least he's alright."

The older sister eyed Aisha with a look that seemed to pile all the blame on her; as if the purplette had no right to express sympathy for her brother. Aisha shrunk into her seat.

"We're here for other matters, though," Elesis began. She tapped on her datapad, bringing up a personal transcriber, "State your name."

The purplette stared at the recorder. Elesis's words appeared as text on the blank screen.

"Elesis, is that thing necessary?"

"It is."

"I was kinda hoping that this would be something kept between us."

"It will be. For now. If anything goes wrong with our deal, I'll have this to work with. Think of it as a fall back plan: if you prove me right-that you're a danger to this society-I'll have this little bit of info ready to release to the public at the drop of a hat. You prove me wrong, you keep your secret."

"You're blackmailing me?"

"I'm securing my part of this deal. You want my help? I want something as well. In your case, it's the truth. Now: state your name."

The purplette sighed, "Aisha Landaar."

"Any aliases?"

She paused. "Dimension Witch."

Elesis raised an eyebrow at her.

"Otherwise known as 'The Witch of Elysion'. I call myself the Dimension Witch. Everyone else just seems to have their own name for me."

Elesis nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Age?"

"23".

"Occupation?"

"Research and Development Technician for Altera Inc."

The lieutenant gestured at her, silently asking for more. Aisha frowned at this before rolling her eyes.

"Vigilante. Is that what you wanted me to say?"

"I was looking more for 'criminal' but that'll do. So, Ms. Landaar, would you care to give me a detailed account on why it is you consider yourself a vigilante? What brought you to take up the identity of the 'Witch of Elysion'?"

"I… don't know where to start."

"From the very beginning. When you first decided to become this 'heroine' you claim yourself to be."

"I… don't think there was ever a concrete time I _decided_ to become a hero. It was more or less a series of events that led me to slowly realize that I was the only one that can really make a difference in certain situations."

"Debatable," Elesis stated rather harshly. She leaned forward, "But go on. I want to know where it all began; where you came about these strange powers of yours."

"It's a long story," Aisha warned, looking around for listeners. The diner was beginning to crowd with the morning rush of patrons, but the noise was enough to drown out their own voices.

"It's my day off," the lieutenant shrugged, "I have all day."

"Alright," the purplette sighed, leaning back as she recounted the years prior, "Where to begin…"

* * *

Aisha strode across the massive first floor lobby, her heels clicking against the cold, black, marble tile. To her right, a refreshment bar filled with employees and business associates having their mid-morning bagel fix. To her left, a crowd of news reporters waiting expectantly behind a velvet rope for someone to appear through an executive elevator door.

Everyone in the lobby wore executive-style suits. Aisha was no different. Dressed in her black business jacket and skirt, she had to look her best for her first day of her internship. Slung over her shoulder, though, was a rather lumpy bag that contained her lab coat and a small sealed box tucked carefully inside the fabric.

She approached one of the free reception desks, where a female Nasod greeted her with her pre-programmed customer-friendly smile and opening dialogue.

"Thank you for visiting Altera Inc. How can I help you today?"

She had medium brown hair, tied into a professional-looking bun. Her suit was grey and white, completely free of any lint or other blemishes… the perfect receptionist model.

Despite how realistic these androids looked to actual humans, the cone-like ears that functioned as an electronics port were a dead giveaway for any and all Nasod models. She wasn't a real person. But without the ears, anyone could easily mistake her for one. Such was the selling point of Altera Inc's robotic division.

"I'm here to see the Chief Architect," Aisha stated, her hand gripping the strap of her rather large bag, "I have an appointment."

"We're sorry. Due to an abrupt change of schedule, the Chief Architect is not available today. May I have your name?"

"Aisha Landaar."

There was a momentary pause as processing lines could be seen running through the Nasod's eyes. The receptionist's body shifted as she silently turned her head to a pair of security guards standing at the door to her left. The guards stepped aside, opening the door that led to the main elevator accessway.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Miss Landaar. The Chief Architect will see you now," the receptionist said, motioning for her to step on through, "You'll find her office on the seventy fifth-"

"I know where I'm going," Aisha replied with a smile. She stepped through the doorway to the quieter elevator access area. Finding the upper floor lifts, she slipped into a waiting elevator before the doors shut. She scanned the selection of floors, skipping past the seventy fifth floor and pushing the button for the ninety-first floor suite.

A hologram flickered into existence, displaying a mini figure of a man dressed in a largely white suit with gold trimming and short black hair. He stood with an air of dignified servitude and greeted the lift passenger with a bow. The cones on his ears were noticeable even in miniature form.

"Welcome to Altera Inc. Unfortunately, suite access is limited to-"

"Hello, Oberon. It's me, Aisha. Care to let me in?"

The hologram straightened, recognizing her voice, "Ah, Miss Landaar. Of course. Granting you access now."

The lift began to move, its ascent gradually picking up speed as it climbed past the other ninety floors of the skyscraper.

Upon arrival, the doors opened not to an office floor but an estate. Pearl colored marble tiles with an elegant red and gold carpet led visitors into a grand hall large enough to house a fountain in the middle. At the center of this fountain was a grand statue of a woman sitting with a large bountiful bowl in her lap. Her hand gestured to an unseen audience below her as if offering gifts to her onlookers while the bowl at her lap overflowed with water.

Surrounding this fountain were a series of exotic flowers mainly pink and purple in color, giving the floor level of the grand hall a garden-esque feel. Behind the fountain was a wide stairway that led to the upper floor of the estate, its walkways running around the fountain as the building's main central attraction.

Aisha stepped into the hall, the murmur of voices growing closer from the upper floors.

"It's good to see you, Miss Landaar," a voice caught the purplette's attention as she turned to the family's personal butler, bowing graciously at the guest. "And my, have you grown into a beautiful young woman."

"You don't seem to have changed at all, Oberon," Aisha joked, getting a knowing smile from the Nasod.

"Such is the way of an android. Though I was promised upgrades in the coming future."

"That's good to see she's still taking care of you though," Aisha commented, "Speaking of… is she…?"

Oberon nodded, leading Aisha towards the stairs where the murmur of voices has reached its peak. A flood of reporters appeared, tailing a single man as he descended the steps in an ill-fated attempt to shoo away the cameras being shoved in his face. He was an aged individual in his fifties with a face layered under a noble silvery mane that fell well past his shoulders. A beard of equal length cascaded down his black and white, gold-trimmed cloak and robes, giving him the regal appearance comparable only to his status as president of Altera Inc.

The man stopped, spotting Oberon's follower, and his brow furrowed at the young woman.

"Oberon?"

"Yes, Master Nasod?" the butler bowed deeply at the bottom of the steps.

"Who is that young lady behind you? Another reporter to join the masses?" the man motioned at the crowd of camera-bearing individuals behind him.

"Thankfully no, master. This is Miss Aisha Landaar. A friend of your daughter's. She's here to wish her a-"

"Aisha Landaar… is that really you?" a small smile of disbelief appeared across the man's face.

"Y-yes, it is, sir," Aisha squeaked meekly, feeling as if she was standing before a king rather than any normal person.

"My… has it really been that long since I've last seen you? Why… you've grown into such a beautiful young lady. You're looking more like your mother. I nearly mistook you for her."

"Thank you, Mister Nasod. I see you've… redecorated the place."

Adrian chuckled, "A few improvements here and there, sure. Maybe two or three dozen extra floors added to the old office building. What brings you to my humble abode?"

"I'm here to see your daughter, actually."

"Ah! Of course. I just put two and two together. It _is_ her special day, after all. Sadly, official celebration plans have been delayed until tomorrow. Do make sure she has a good time, will you?"

"Of course, sir."

"And have her back before midnight!"

"Midnight…?" Aisha wasn't sure if that was possible considering the plans they had. "I don't know if I can…"

In that brief moment, Adrian's face changed. What once was that of a calm, kind, businessman flashed into something of a lion protecting its offspring.

"Before midnight, please," Adrian stated, "I don't want her out too late."

"O-of course. No later than ten, even." Aisha replied quickly. And just like that the kind doting father returned. Aisha sighed before turning the conversation back to him. "And how have you been, sir?"

"Oh please. Adrian is fine," he raises a hand at her as if pushing away a curtain of formality and then motions at the crowd behind him, "As you can see I'm busy as always. It's a revolutionary discovery this time, though. Something that will change the very foundation of the way our city functions."

"Oh? What kind of Nasod invention did you cook up, this time?" Aisha asked, tilting her head and smiling.

"Oh, I didn't invent anything. Not yet anyways. Rather… my company has found something."

"And… that is?"

Adrian winks at her, "I'd tell you, but we'll save that for later after the news channels had their fill of commercials." He then turns to the crowd, "And as for the rest of you, I've said it once, and I'll say it again: if you want information on our discovery, you have to wait until the presentation later this evening! I will _not_ disclose my findings now. So leave!"

This only seemed to spur the reporters back into their flurry of questions. They threw inquiries that ranged from the implications of "changing the very foundation" of their city to the road map of future products the new discovery will bring in the near future.

Adrian proceeded down the stairs past Aisha and Oberon and disappeared into the elevator room.

"He's just as I remember him," Aisha sighed.

"This is true, unfortunately. Though the crowd seems to be notably larger than usual," Oberon added.

"What is it that he discovered exactly?"

"I'm not sure, nor would I be at liberty to discuss it, I'd think. I just know that it came from the _surface world_."

"Adrian found a relic from the surface? That's nothing new. What's so special about it?"

"Again, I don't know nor would I be at liberty to discuss it. Now, I believe you had an appointment with someone." Oberon said before leading her up the stairs.

She followed Oberon to the top, turning left and followed the walkway to a much quieter, but equally grand hall. To her right, as she walked, was a wall of glass that looked over a holographically projected field of farm lands and trees that met with a cloudless blue sky. It felt… empty, seeing nothing but green that stretched to the distant horizon. Much emptier than the crowded concrete jungle Aisha was used to. She didn't know if she'd like that, to be honest, but according to ancient records, this was what the surface world looked like a millennia ago.

To her left were a series of large double doors leading to different rooms ranging from a library, a recently converted personal workshop, a grand bath, and finally to a bedroom where Oberon came to a stop before. Aisha expected no less of the demands of the Chief Architect. She would keep all of these in her own personal wing of the estate.

The butler raised his hand to knock, but Aisha quietly stopped him. "I got it from here. Thanks, Oberon."

"As you wish, Miss Landaar," Oberon said, bowing and taking his leave.

She listened to the footsteps fade, primping her hair one last time before taking a deep breath and exhaling. She gripped the bag over her shoulder and carefully opened the door. The large door quietly swung open, and a muffled voice could be heard beyond the doorway. Looking around, she found herself staring at a thick door curtain that had been drawn to hide the rest of the room.

Aisha shut the door and peeked through the curtain, purple eyes searching for the source of the voice. This was the first time she had seen the Chief Architect's room in years, and it was apparent in the choice of decor that she had not changed much since Aisha last had a slumber party with her.

A large circular rug sat at the room's center with a coffee table, and two lounge chairs sat in front of a large unlit fireplace. At the corner of the room was a massive, princess-style bed complete with drapes and everything a young girl would want hanging over it. At the far opposite corner, a door leading to a large walk-in closet could be seen with the light catching more extravagant outfits than Aisha could ever dream to own in a lifetime. Along the wall back towards the entrance was a grand vanity desk big enough to seat a family with the star of the day sitting in front of the mirror.

The Chief Architect was talking to the mirror. Several holograms were on display around her, and it was clear she was recording something. All the while, a blank Nasod frame, unaltered by holograms to give it any clothes or flesh, stood behind her, rolling her long silver hair into a complex pair of buns that fell to the side of her head. As the machine worked, the young woman carefully straightened her bangs, setting it to part neatly over her brow.

"...That concludes my summary on the matters of this morning," the Architect said to the recording, "Aisha should be here any moment. She said she had something she wanted to show me. I'll update you this evening, assuming I'd be back by the end of today… end diary entry."

The holograms vanished, leaving her to stare at herself in the mirror as the Nasod finished rolling the second bun in her hair. With a tilt of her head, she brushed a few loose locks away to put on a set of diamond earrings.

"Ahem!" Aisha cleared her throat loudly through the curtain, startling the woman sitting at the vanity table, "I hope I'm not walking in on anything personal!" Aisha peeked through the curtain, her purple eyes meeting with golden ones.

The silver-haired woman put a hand over her chest, taking a breath to calm herself, "You didn't… hear any of that, did you?"

"Maybe," Aisha replied with a mischievous lilt in her voice, "But more importantly… I have something for you."

The architect checked herself in the mirror one last time before turning fully towards the door. "What is it?"

Aisha grinned, dipping into the curtains once more before sliding a stockinged leg in between the folds.

"Happy birthday… to you," she sang in the most seductive voice she could muster.

"Oh no…" Aisha could hear her friend groan at this. Suppressing a giggle, Aisha continued, stepping forward with her other leg as she held the curtain around her body in mock playfulness.

"Happy birthday… to you!" She threw her hands aside, pushing the curtains away revealing herself to still be dressed in her business attire, thankfully.

"Shouldn't you be saving this act for your boyfriend?" her friend said with a roll of the eyes.

"It's not his birthday, though. And besides, he's out training. Just be happy I decided to keep my clothes on!" Aisha explained dismissively with a giggle. The thought crossed her mind, but Aisha couldn't imagine the lawsuit she'd have if she did this to her new boss in the nude. Still, she thought, given the circumstances, this was appropriate for her best friend's special day.

"Happy birthday, Miss Eve," she continued, advancing towards the Chief Architect as seductively as she could without getting on the ground and crawling. Instead she reached into her bag, fishing out a tiny box from her bag as she slid onto Eve's lap. "Happy birthday to you!"

Eve took the box, smiling and shaking her head before being startled yet again when Aisha suddenly threw her arms around the silver-haired woman in a tight hug. Eve returned the embrace and looked on at the box curiously. It was small.

"You're not proposing to me, too, are you?" Eve asked.

"It's your twenty-first birthday, you got me an internship to work with you, the next obvious step is for us to get married. Also, I'm really digging your house. I wouldn't mind moving in with you," Aisha replied jokingly, "Open it. It's not… keys to a new hover car or anything. I couldn't possibly outdo your lifestyle now so I was aiming for something more… sentimental."

Eve began the meticulous process of pulling the wrapping apart by the adhesives without ripping the paper and undoing the ribbon. This was a habit Aisha was quick to pick up from her friend and, instead of watching her work, began poking around at the birthday girl's desk.

"So I see you're still keeping a diary."

Eve nodded as she carefully separated one piece of tape from the wrapping.

"I'm assuming you still do this stuff daily as well?"

"I try to," Eve replied, sticking her tongue out in deep focus as she worked on the third of the four adhesives, "Which was why I decided to do one earlier today since, knowing you, I most likely wouldn't come home until later tonight."

Aisha tried to hide the guilty grin as she turned to the blank android standing off to the side. It was a model she hadn't seen before: a dark grey humanoid frame with a cushioned plasti-fiber weave to give it the texture of human skin. It stood taller than Aisha, perhaps just as tall as Eve. Its empty lenses were fixed in a mouthless skull and stared straight past the two towards some distant target in the horizon.

"And who's this little beauty?"

"I call her prototype-Q. Q, for short. She's the latest model of our yet-to-be-revealed android line. Q's still in development stages, though, hence the name."

"So you're having her do your hair in the meantime?" Aisha asked, idly playing with her friend's hair and subtly pushing her locks back to stare at the beautiful diamond earring fixed on the young woman's ear.

"I was testing her cognitive response to commands and the coordination of her limbs," Eve pulled away from Aisha's hands, turning her head to reveal the tightly knotted and neatly managed buns, "As you can see: she earns a pass. My next step is to build a personality algorithm for her that not only learns but adapts more quickly to emergencies than our current generation of androids."

"Will I get to work on her, too?" Aisha asked, excitedly.

"Possibly. She's hasn't been revealed to the public, and I'm not sure father would want an intern to poke at our company's secret projects just yet. No offense."

"None taken."

"Done!" Eve pulled the wrapping apart and opened the cardboard clam to reveal a small pink data stick with a white ribbon tied around it. The architect picked up the data stick and inspected it, tilting her head curiously before looking at her friend. "What is it?"

Aisha laughed, "Why don't you plug it in and find out?"

With a wave of her hand, the hologram controls appeared at the vanity table once more, and a slot opened for the data stick. As Eve plugged in the stick and downloaded the unexpectedly large amounts of data, Aisha took the liberty to glance over the files stored in the windows on display. As Eve had said, there appeared to be a diary entry for every day stretching back as far as she can remember.

"You really have made an entry for each day of your life, huh?"

"After mother passed, I realized how little I had saved to remember her by," Eve sighed, "I used to keep these entries to sort my thoughts with her no longer with us, and father encouraged me to do it, saying I shouldn't take every day for granted. After losing my mother… I couldn't agree more. Since then, I've been keeping a record of everything that goes on in my day."

A sly grin appeared on Aisha's lips, "_Everything_?"

Eve averted her eyes, "Everything I wouldn't be embarrassed about in the future."

"Well that's unfortunate," Aisha replied as the datastick finished its download, immediately opening up a massive album of pictures and videos that took Eve a moment to look over before realizing what they were. The birthday girl's eyes widened as they flicked from one picture to another, all the while Aisha's devilish grin only grew.

"...Because I took the liberty to compile all your embarrassing moments that I managed to film or snap a picture of into one big library!"

All the while, the clips previews of a few of the princess's less-than-princessy moments played over Aisha's shoulder. One of which featured Eve gorging herself on a massive plate of waffles at Tiffany's. It cuts to her moments later hugging the toilet in a sick pile of both guilt and satisfaction.

Another featured Eve too drunk to stand. The sounds of Aisha giggling in the background were drowned out by Eve ranting on and on about company secrets. The crowd of bar attendees, who appeared less than pleased at having to sit next to the drunk, were shouting over the music, asking Aisha to take the poor girl home.

Another was of Aisha hiding and recording a younger Eve, barely in her mid-teens. The young Eve was scanning the area, making sure she was alone, before giving a heartfelt smooch on the cheek to a rather handsome looking Nasod prototype at the time.

Eve pulled the datastick out, covering her face in shame. "Why would you do this?"

"Because you're my friend and that's what friends do!" Aisha laughed, seeing the genuine embarrassment fill Eve's face.

Eve pouted and turned her head away, forcing the purplette to play along with the architects' sulkiness.

"Oh don't be like that, Eve. It's all in good fun. It's not _all_ embarrassing. Some of the stuff in there are stuff I thought were pretty sweet. Like the time we went to robotics camp together? The time you third wheeled for my first date."

"You insisted I go because you were too scared to be around Elsword alone," Eve acknowledged, still not looking at her friend.

"If anything, that's embarrassing for _me_," Aisha added, "But really, this is just a big thank you. When we were kids, it never occurred to me how much different we were until you started focusing more on your family's business. And as time went on, we both started having different lives. People may see you as this prim and proper young woman in the news… the future 'queen' of Altera Inc."

"Such is the responsibility of an heiress, unfortunately," Eve sighed, "It's pretty much nothing but business from here on out."

"But to me, you'll always be my friend," Aisha continued, "And I wanted to remind you of that. I'll stick by you, always. Through thick and thin."

Eve finally turned to her friend still sitting on her lap. A soft smile appeared on the silver-haired maiden's lips, "Thank you. Really, Aisha. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it!" Aisha hopped off Eve's lap, "It's the least I can do for landing me a spot as an intern for this place! Speaking of which… aren't you going to show me around?"

The Chief Architect sighed again, "Alright. I guess it's about time for you to start, anyways." She took the datastick and slid it into a small drawer at the corner of the vanity table, "But from this point on, I'm deciding what we're doing. I'm your boss, after all."

"And it's your birthday!" Aisha added as they both made their way out of her room, "Which reminds me: drinks for tonight…"

* * *

Eve wiped the sweat from her brow, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips.

"How does it feel, Mr. Cronwell? Better, I hope?"

A man in his mid twenties sat on a chair with a mechanical left arm resting on the examination table. He was shirtless, revealing a myriad of scars across a toned body. Aisha stood behind Eve and was given the simple task of observing her boss as she worked. That was what she was supposed to do, but she couldn't help herself but take her fill staring at the man's body as he clenched and unclenched the fingers of the mechanical arm.

"Significantly more responsive, thanks to you, Ms. Nasod. It's an honor having you personally fix my arm."

Eve began piecing together the arm's metal casing before shrugging off the show of gratitude, "This isn't normally my department. Programming is more my specialty. Though if it acts up again, I'll see to it that Ms. Landaar here will take care of you." Eve motioned at the intern behind her and the purplette perked up, giving the man a shy wave which he regarded with less confidence.

He lifted his prosthetic and gave it a few test clenches before quickly extending it outward in a quick jabbing motion that surprised both Eve and Aisha. The metal appendage was rigid, not a loose gear clattered as the tiny pistons and cogs turned. A perfect, if not superior, replication of the human arm.

"I noticed the tech you're using is a little dated as well," Eve added, "I highly recommend an upgrade to our more advanced prosthetics. Your warranty should cover it."

"It is? I thought it was only for replacement parts… not a whole new arm."

"Due to your selfless service on our behalf, it's the least I can do as a representative of Altera Inc. Think of it as a token of appreciation."

Mr. Cronwell blinked at her before shooting her a look of genuine gratitude. "Thanks, again, chief."

He stood, buttoning his top before taking his leave. As he left the prosthetics ward, the two exhaled in a silent acknowledgement of a job well done.

Eve glanced at Aisha. "So, what would you rate it?"

"The guy or your workmanship?" Aisha snickered, "I saw the way you were looking at him."

"I'm sure he both saw the way we were looking at him. Did you see his scars?"

"I think the more appropriate question is: did you see his muscles under those scars?"

"No…" Eve replied innocently. She glanced at Aisha before muttering a barely audible "maybe." She packed her tools, ignoring the impish grin on Aisha's face.

"That concludes most of your responsibilities as an intern. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Seems easy enough. Though I'm surprised. I didn't expect you to go out of your way to help someone like that even if it's not your department."

"It was a simple recalibration job," Eve said with a shrug, "Besides, what kind of heiress would I be if I ignored the needs of a client?"

"You're adorable, you know that?" Aisha grinned.

The Chief Architect pouted at her subordinate, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! Nothing. I'm just happy knowing after all these years you still have a good head on your shoulders."

Eve rolled her eyes and, after finishing packing her tools, stood and dusted her lab coat before making her way out of the prosthetics ward with Aisha in tow.

"We're pretty much done with the tour and orientation. But since we have a bit more time before the office closes, I have something I want to show you."

"Oh? What is it?" Aisha tilted her head, following Eve to the elevator and watched her punch the basement level three button.

Oberon's miniature hologram appeared, "Voice recognition activated. Please state the password."

"Eve."

Her face was scanned before Oberon bowed, "Access granted."

Aisha cocked an eyebrow. "The password's your name?"

Eve raised a hand defensively, "Don't look at me. Father was the one who programmed the security."

The elevator descended past the ground floor, and despite it being only three levels below, it felt like the elevator continued to travel deeper.

"How deep underground are we traveling exactly? This feels like some kind of super restricted area that you're taking me to."

"That's because it is. No one is supposed to see this but, for you, I think father can make an exception," the Chief Architect said, throwing her a coy smile and putting a finger over her lips, "Assuming he never finds out."

"Eve… As a new employee, I don't want to get in your dad's bad side."

"He won't know. Trust me," Eve said. With a wave of her hand, Oberon's hologram appeared once more.

"How can I be of service, Miss Nasod?"

"Oberon, are there any scheduled processes taking place in the next ten minutes in basement level three?"

"No, madam. Though we _are_ scheduled to transport cargo from level three within the hour."

"Excellent. Please cease all recording functions in the third basement level for ten minutes. There's a glitch in the network I must address."

"Certainly, Miss Nasod. Ceasing recording functions… now."

"Oberon can do something like that just by telling him to?"

"Of course. He's my android, after all. Since father integrated him into the building's security system, I took the liberty to install a little backdoor through him. It has its uses… It lets me sneak a few midnight snacks into my room without father knowing."

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a short concrete hall lit by dim fluorescent lights. The soft hum of ventilation could be heard echoing up and down these halls, and Aisha couldn't help but stick closer to her friend as she led her to the end of the cold walkway.

They stepped into a grated walkway overlooking a large high-security research lab. Scientists numbering in the fifties crowded the floor below, their attention locked on their numerous individual projects. From where Aisha stood, she could recognize a few of the stations working on robotic limbs similar to Q's blank frame. Others had more abstract projects, one of which featured what looked like the use of dimensional portals: a step in scientific discovery that was still being researched. To see Altera Inc. trying to incorporate dimensional travel into their product line seemed… out of place for a robotics company.

"Good evening, Chief Architect," the voice of a woman said form Aisha's immediate right. This startled her and immediately caused her to duck behind Eve as the heiress regarded what looked to be another Nasod. The female android had short, black hair. She was wearing a white, black, and pink dress more suited for cleaning and housework than anything else. She was essentially a maid in a research lab.

"Good evening, Ophelia," Eve smiled, tilting her head, "I was beginning to wonder where father stationed you after I completed your programming."

"He's tasked me with security on this floor," the Nasod replied.

"That's odd, considering I made you to be Oberon's pair."

"It's a temporary decision on his part. With the discovery of the artifact, he has me stationed here as an extra security measure should it be necessary… On the note of security… who is that behind you?"

"This is Aisha. She's just here for a tour."

"Access is restricted to authorized personnel only. I should report this to Master Nasod at once."

"Ophelia," Eve sighed, "Execute override protocol seven-three-six-one-two. You won't report this intrusion to Adrian Nasod."

A processing line appeared through the Nasod's eyes and her posture changed. "I won't report this intrusion to Adrian Nasod." She repeated.

"You will delete all accounts of ever seeing either of us here for the next ten minutes."

"I will delete all accounts of ever seeing either you or your companion for the next ten minutes."

"Good girl," Eve said, turning back to Aisha. "It's a good thing it was Ophelia. I don't remember the override codes for most of my androids off the top of my head."

"I'm… not going to be in trouble, am I?" Aisha asked, still trying to hide her face from Ophelia.

"You'll be fine. I think."

"You think…?"

Eve changed the subject, pulling the purplette's attention to an object at the center of the large room.

Following her gesture, Aisha's eyes settled to an entire area encased in glass. Kept safely within the glass prison was a heavy-looking bronze box worn and faded by time. Just from glancing at the container, Aisha could easily estimate the object to be over several thousands of years old.

"Is that… a relic from the surface world?" the purplette whispered.

"Not just a relic. _The_ relic," Eve whispered back, "Father's excavation team found it almost a week ago and it's been stored here ever since. That gentleman that you've seen earlier? Mister Cronwell? He was part of the survey team that found it. He lost his arm fighting whatever monsters infest the surface world just trying to get to this relic. I won't let his sacrifice go unappreciated."

"That's a lot of work for some old world junk," Aisha mumbled.

"It's not your usual throwaway trinket, Aisha. This relic is the real deal. It's magical."

Aisha snorted, "What? Magical? Now that's something I'd never expect the heiress to a technological giant like Altera Inc. to say. Magic was thought to be lost thousands of years ago."

"Not anymore," Eve said, shaking her head, "I know it might sound superficial, but that item from the surface world… it's the reason why there are so many news reporters at our offices for the past week. And they have every right to be excited. Though they don't know what they're in for."

"So… what is it, then? Your dad said something about changing the very foundation of how Elysion functions."

Eve looked around for any prying ears but only found Ophelia, who had returned to her patrol route as the only viable person to listen in, "We're not sure yet. But our tests thus far have concluded that this object has an immeasurable amount of El infused into it.

"El…?"

"Magical energies."

Aisha rolled her eyes, "Eve…"

"I'm serious! One drop of this stuff can power an entire section of Elysion for a _week_. What we found is an ocean's worth of El in that box."

"In _that_ tiny box?"

Eve nodded. "Think of the possibilities with that kind of power at Elysion's disposal! We can expand. We can grow. Maybe we can even secure a home in the surface world with it!"

"Now that last one's a little far-fetched. But I see the need to keep the discovery secret."

"You don't understand, Aisha. As it stands, our city's generators are what keeps Elysion from growing into anything more than it is now. The relic alone can power an entire _nation_ for a lifetime. Maybe even longer. Can you imagine what it would mean if any ordinary person had that kind of power at their disposal? Can you imagine that person using it against us?"

"So that's why your dad refused to tell me what it was about..."

"Don't take it personally, Aisha. I've only just learned of this object's existence three days ago. I understand where my father is coming from, keeping this relic a secret until he understood what it was. And frankly, I'd prefer he didn't release his findings to the masses. But… I trust what he's doing. I just fear what would happen if the relic fell into the wrong hands. It doesn't make it easier knowing _who_ he's meeting with tonight. Father's holding a high security meeting with the city's higher-ups regarding the use of the item. I suspect the news will be all over it."

"The higher-ups… you don't mean…"

Eve sighed and nodded her head, "Yes. Elysion's elite. The city's esteemed guardians."

"I doubt they'd put the relic to any good use considering-"

"Yes, but father is the only one with the tools available to study it. With him holding the cards, he has more of a say on how they should use it."

"And if he has control over it… then that means Altera Inc..."

Excitement flashed in Eve's golden eyes, "I know! Can you imagine what that would mean for Elysion's future? We can help everyone with this discovery. We just need to learn how we can apply it-"

A ding from the elevator shafts caught their attention, and the two young women quickly hid around the corner as the doors flew open.

"It's father," Eve reported, causing Aisha's face to go white, "He's with Oberon."

"What do we do-"

"Don't worry. I'll handle it," Eve reassured her, pressing Aisha against the wall as she peeked around the corner. The footsteps drew closer, causing Aisha's hear to nearly leap out of her chest.

"If preparations are complete, Oberon, then I don't see why we can't get this ball rolling… Notify the transport. We'll move the relic as soon as the dummy cars are ready-"

Eve rounded the corner, pulling Adrian's eyes away from the side Aisha hid behind as the Chief Architect seemed to clumsily run into her father.

"Ah. Eve! Wasn't expecting you down here… erm. What _are_ you doing down here?"

"Checking up on the progress of R&D teams one through ten on regards to prototype-Q's limb enhancements," Eve stammered. She glanced at Aisha who stood directly behind Adrian. Eve subtly tilted her head, prompting her to make a move for the elevators. Oberon saw this, turning his head to meet hers, but a quick wink on the android's part revealed he had no intention of revealing Aisha's presence. The purplette held her breath, quietly slipping behind Adrian and tiptoeing her way back to the elevator access area.

"I thought you'd be giving Aisha the grand tour, still… speaking of which, where is she?" The president of Altera Inc. turned his head to look around, immediately prompting Eve to force herself into his attention once more, stepping into his field of view as a look of urgency filled her face.

"She's getting ready in my room. Um… Are you… moving the relic?"

"Ah, yes. Yes, I am. I need it for the presentation, after all," Adrian chuckled, "Which is _why_ I want you home safe before it gets too late at night. I plan on making the reveal this evening. Word will spread fast about the relic's power. Gods forbid that some miscreant would learn you're out and about late at night and decide to hold you for a city's ransom… Can't you do this some other time, my dear?"

"If it's any time after you reveal the relic, I might as well say goodbye to ever setting foot outside the company's offices ever again," Eve reasoned, "Let me have tonight to enjoy myself. It's my birthday, after all."

There was a look of strong conflict in the aging man's face. He very much wanted to say no, but the puppy dog eyes in Eve's golden pools were the only thing keeping him from outright saying it.

"Very well."

"Thank you, father! I love you!" Eve said, throwing her arms over him in a tight embrace.

"But be back by eight, this evening."

"Nine?"

"Eight!"

Eve tilted her head, half to throw Adrian another pleading look and half to see if Aisha was in the elevator, yet. She caught a glimpse of her friend disappearing behind the safety of elevator doors.

"Fine… nine o'clock. No later… With your mother gone… I can't help but worry."

Eve kissed her father on his cheek. "I promise I'll be back by then."

* * *

"I thought I was dead!" Aisha squealed in a fit of laughter as the two of them hopped into Eve's black hover car.

"I thought you were, too. I was sure father was going to turn around when he asked about you…" Eve sighed, a gloved hand over her chest as she took a moment to recompose herself.

The two had changed out of their lab coats and Aisha had slipped into a more comfortable set of clothes: a royal purple top and skirt and a pair of white thigh high socks. This was a style that seemed to follow her since her mid teens and, for the sake of nostalgia, she decided to bring the look back.

Eve had changed out of her business attire, but her choice of dress did little to hide her nobility. She wore a black and white long sleeve tube dress that stopped at her mid-thigh and met halfway by a pair of thigh-high white boots. A long white coat and gloves completed the ensemble, making Aisha feel woefully underdressed for the occasion.

"That was smooth of you, too, getting your dad talking about his plans for the night. It felt like forever just waiting for a lift to come down and pick me up. Oh thank gods the elevator was empty too," Aisha slid down on her seat as the two of them simultaneously sighed in relief. "What was it that you were talking about, anyways?"

"Father's just being himself and worrying about me," Eve groaned.

"Well isn't that cute," Aisha shook her head and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll have Cinderella home by midnight-"

"He wants me home by nine."

"What?! Couldn't you convince him to give you a little more slack?"

"I did. Nine was the latest. But it's because of the presentation tonight. He just wants me home safe after news gets out about the relic's existence."

"What do you mean home safe?"

Eve started her car, "Remember what I said about the relic falling into the wrong hands? That makes me a prime ransom target once word spreads of the object's power."

"Okay, so after the big announcement and all, when would it ever be a good time for you to set foot outside Altera Inc?"

"Never… realistically speaking."

"Lame!" Aisha cried, "That's not fair to you! You're pretty much going to be a prisoner of your own home!"

"Yeah…"

Aisha unbuckled her seatbelt, "I'm going to have a word with your dad."

"Aisha… No. It's okay."

"_No._ It most definitely is _not_ okay. I'm not going to let my friend live the rest of her life in her tower."

"Aisha. I'm not really going to be locked in there forever. There'll be times where I'll step out. With heavy security, of course."

"But that's not… ugh," Aisha scratched her head in frustration.

They both sat in silence, the soft hum of Eve's hover car filling the gap as the night seemed to be ruined before it even started.

"It's… what I want," Eve whispered.

Aisha shook her head, "No. No, that's not what you want. You're just saying that because-"

"Because I'm the heiress. And I wouldn't want it any other way. Altera Inc. is the largest reason why Elysion is able to keep afloat, both physically and metaphorically speaking. We provide the generators that keep us in the air. We create the tech and the security. Without us, Elysion would crumble and literally fall. With my father's discovery, what's my freedom when the lives of millions rest on our company's stability? I don't mind it. Really."

"Eve…"

"Besides," the architect turned to Aisha, her golden eyes affirming her stance, "I'd have you to keep me company, right?"

Aisha could feel herself wanting to cry. She wanted to tell her friend otherwise. But the look on Eve's face revealed she had her heart set on seeing this through to the end. The purplette had to respect that.

"Don't make me make promises I can't keep," Aisha chuckled, wiping her eyes, "I almost got fired today, remember? That doesn't bode well for the rest of my internship."

Eve leaned over to the passenger side, hugging her friend tightly. "I won't make you do anything that stupid ever again."

"Promise?"

The silver-haired maiden nodded. "Promise."

Aisha hugged back, settling back in her seat as she tried to get the tears to stop forming in her eyes. "Okay. For now, I say let's forget all this business crap. It's your birthday! And I'm getting you drunk before nine!"

"You realize you don't have a license to drive me home if that happens, right?" Eve said, pulling out of the company garage and onto the main street.

"Ugh, you're no fun."

"A drink and some cake, how about that?" Eve suggested.

"And maybe shopping?"

"Sure. Haven't done that in a while with you." The hover car stopped at the lift-off point in front of Altera Inc's skyscraper. The friday evening traffic was in full effect, and to make matters worse, seven armored trucks had beaten Eve to the queue. Aisha leaned forward, watching as one of the cars floated up and, after a full minute of waiting, slotted itself into the busy skyway.

"What's with all the armored trucks?" Aisha muttered, tapping her finger impatiently as another truck waited for another slot to open up.

"Father's transporting the relic. I was hoping we'd beat them here but… well… I wasn't expecting to sit and talk in the parking garage for so long."

"Don't pin the blame on me!"

"I _am_ pinning the blame on you," Eve said, a smug grin appearing on her face as she looked for an opportunity to force her way further up the queue.

"You're partly to blame, too, bringing all this heavy stuff to the table."

"Uh huh," Eve sighed, checking her mirrors before flicking on her signal light, "Whatever, it's my birthday. I want to at least do this." She pulled off the road, driving on the sidewalk before re-inserting the car as the next in line on the road's lift-off point.

"Such a rebel," Aisha commented. Eve said nothing and slotted herself into the skyway right behind the second armor car. A projected path guided the hover car up and away from the Altera commercial platform, giving Aisha a full view of Elysion's ninth tower in all its concrete glory. The metropolis of Elysion was divided into ten major domed districts labeled as "towers". Each varied in size, was densely packed with at least a million inhabitants, and specialized in providing different commodities that allowed the ten towers to function like a well-oiled economic machine.

Tower 9 was the corporate district and focused heavily on running the businesses of the other nine towers. Skyscrapers were a common obstacle in the skyway, and it wasn't uncommon to find buildings that scaled close to the hundreds in floor count like Altera Inc. To Aisha, though, as she sat in Eve's hover car, it felt as if she were a firefly, turning and weaving through a massive concrete forest, and the giant colorful billboards that filled the landscape were the leaves. That didn't mean it was completely absent of other commodities. As a district that naturally favored the wealthy, many of the shops and bars catered to the expensive tastes of its inhabitants here. The district was way too posh for Aisha's wallet, coming from the middle-class in Tower 7. But for Eve's sake, she had saved months worth of cash specifically for this occasion… Not that it made finding a bar that fit Aisha's budget any easier.

The hover car slowed to a stop, still behind the armored truck they were tailing.

"It seems like my father's exhibition will take place near the bar you picked out."

"Huh," Aisha muttered, "If anything, you can swing by your dad's meeting, right? He can give you a ride home if you're completely drunk out of your mind." The purplette was joking, of course. Though there was a hint of seriousness in the suggestion. She really wanted her friend to let loose once in a while, especially since this was supposedly the last time she'd be allowed out without a retinue of bodyguards following her.

"Absolutely not. The last thing I want is for my father to see me when I'm intoxicated," Eve replied, bringing the hover car back to the street level.

"Aw, where's your sense of fun? I'm sure he wouldn't mind if-"

The last thing Aisha remembered was a blinding flash of light coming in from the driver side window.

She didn't remember how the hover car spun out of control, nor how its engines were ripped from the front, sending the vehicle careening across the street and onto a patch of green turf. She didn't remember seeing the armored truck roll dangerously nearby, nor how it slid towards them and slammed against the black car's windshield.

What she did remember was the sound of voices. Several of them. They weren't panicked, nor were they calling for help. The voices were direct. Demanding.

Aisha slowly came to, the scent of oil strong in her nostrils. Her head throbbed and every joint in her body felt as if it had been crushed by some unseen force. It felt like something was digging into her shoulder and her hip. She blinked and found herself peering through red. Blood. But it wasn't hers.

"W...what…?" Aisha tried to move. Gripping her seatbelt, she undid the buckle and was suddenly pulled towards the car's roof where she hit it with a pained thud. The car had been flipped upside down.

She slowly rolled over, turning her head to see… Eve.

The heiress had taken the brunt of the collision. Still hanging upside down in the driver's seat, much of the driver's side door had buckled into her. Most of her body was crushed between the door and the steering wheel. Blood trickled freely down her chest, painting her silver locks a deep crimson. Yet despite all this, she was alive. Her friend was clinging to life, her single free hand reaching for Aisha.

"Oh gods… Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh gods… Eve!" Aisha's voice shook as she carefully took Eve by the hand. "Hang in there… Hang in there, Eve. I'm going to call for help-" Aisha felt around for her phone, only to find it destroyed in her pocket. Her hands were soaked in blood, the flow having trickled its way down Eve's arm to hers.

"No… no no no. Eve, hold on… Hold on Eve. Just-" Aisha tried to push the twisted metal out of the way, getting a pained and empty gurgle from the heiress in the process. Aisha immediately stopped, panic reaching its peak.

The voices drew closer. Aisha dropped her head to the car roof to peek through the crumpled window. A pair of heavy boots thumped its way across the turf traveling along the wreckage towards the front of the armored truck.

"H-hey! Help!" Aisha croaked, not able to find her voice.

"The guards are taken care of. Check the cargo" the voice of a male said, causing Aisha to immediately clam up as she covered her mouth.

"We can't get in through the back. It's wedged against the car," a second voice reported, standing over the flipped wreckage.

"Well then, open it from the front!" the first barked, "And make it quick. They're bound to know something's up now if their second truck isn't responding. This damned cargo better be worth it."

"W-what's going… what's going on? What are they doing? Why are they-" Aisha whispered as she quickly noted the barrel of a rifle next to the pair of boots standing at the car's window. She had to get out of here. She had to get Eve out of here.

She looked to her friend, Eve's gasps were light and haggard as she continued to reach for Aisha. "No… Eve don't… please don't go. I'll get you out of here. You'll see. I'll get you-"

Eve weakly shook her head, reaching not for her, but past her.

"H...huh?" Aisha followed her gesture past the windshield and towards the inside of the armored car. Inside the tangle of wires and bent metal storage shelves, resting within a large cushioned container that had popped open from the impact, was a small copper-colored box.

"R...r…" Eve choked, her fading golden eyes focused on the container, "...re...l..."

"Eve… no… what matters most is you! I can't-"

"P-p…" her friend was fading in and out of consciousness at this point, a deep pool of blood lay on the roof below her, "Ple...ase."

Aisha watched as life completely vanished from her friend's golden pools. Her arm fell limp and Aisha drew in a sharp breath, covering her mouth as she felt tears rolling down her cheeks.

She searched around frantically in a panic for something, anything, to bring her friend back. What she saw was the copper container, sitting at the other end of the truck's cargo hold. Unsure of what to do and grasping at straws at this point, she crawled. She crawled through the broken glass, its shards digging deep into her skin as she pulled herself free from the wreckage of Eve's hover car and into the cargo hold of the truck.

Dragging herself to a sitting position, she made a grab for the box. She held it to her chest, its weight surprisingly light in her arms. The door at the front of the truck banged loudly against its hinges, causing Aisha to nearly leap back against the black car.

"Damned door's bent shut."

"Put some muscle into it! The police are on their way!"

Another loud bang, followed by another that threatened to knock the door out of its frame. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

Aisha gritted her teeth, turning and searching for a way to open the copper container before settling with just pulling the container apart at the clam-like lid. No matter how hard she tried, the object remained shut, held by some unseen locking mechanism. Aisha tried again and again as the pounding on the door turned to loud rattling. The door's hinges were hanging on by a thread. She was running out of time.

"Please open," Aisha begged in her mind, "I can't let them hurt Eve! I have to save her!"

The banging stopped.

Everything stopped.

The shouting, the sirens, everything around her fell silent. Aisha looked around, noting the stillness in the air. Even the wisps of smoke floated motionless around her. Something was here. She could feel it. The copper box lay open at her feet, empty, its contents nowhere to be found.

Aisha couldn't see anything other than her initial surroundings but it felt as if she were being watched. No, it was more than that. It was as if an entity was directly addressing her. It didn't speak as there was no sound, but she felt as if a question was being pushed into her mind.

It involved Eve, the men just beyond the door, and strangely enough, all of Elysion in this question. Aisha was confused and this entity sensed it, prompting it to ask the question once more. This time, it was strictly about Eve.

"If… if it can save her..." Aisha mumbled.

A sense of sorrow that didn't belong to her filled her mind. Its emotion directed at her friend.

"Please… I don't know what it is you want but if there's anything I can do-"

As if to answer her, she was filled with a sensation as if she were soaring through the air. A feeling of weightlessness and the unhindered ability to spread her wings swirled in her mind. Then, just as suddenly as this sensation came, it left, shifting into one that was directed at her. Another question. A promise. One that involved all of the city.

Aisha's thoughts drifted to Eve. Sensing this, the entity pressed the question further into her mind, demanding an answer. Unsure of what else to say, Aisha merely nodded.

"As long as I can fix all of this."

A sense of reassurance filled her mind followed by a sudden rush of energy that swirled around her. The initial pain of the deep cuts along her body vanished and was replaced with a soothing pulse of heat. Time slowly began to move and as the fluorescent light in the cargo hold flickered off, her eyes strangely caught every detail-every flicker and spark of electricity-before the bulb popped, shrouding her in darkness. But it wasn't pitch black for her. Rather, her eyes immediately adjusted to the change in lighting, the edges of each bent metal as sharp and as clear as day for her to see. The scent of oil was stronger now. But on top of that, she recognized the burnt plastic of the turf, the burned rubber of tires and asphalt, even the smell of alcohol from the nearby bar was discernible amidst the numerous sounds returned, but it wasn't just the sirens she could hear. It wasn't just the shouting of those standing just beyond the metal door. It was far more than that. Voices of people calling emergency services across the street. The murmur and panic of nearby onlookers standing or watching from the safety of their hotel windows. She could hear all of it, especially the soft thump of fast approaching footsteps from high above.

All of this came crashing down on Aisha at the same time. Everything from the smell of gunpowder to the minute detail of broken shards of glass at her feet flooded her mind like one giant tsunami. She could do nothing but fall to her hands and knees. She felt like she were going to vomit. Overwhelmed by everything, she almost couldn't comprehend it as a copper metal band took form in a flash of golden light around her right ring finger.

She heaved, rolling to her side as the fine grains of glass rubbed against her skin, bringing in a new wave of unwanted sensation ripping through her mind.

"Hey!" the male voice shouted at something standing on the sidewalk, "Nothing to see here! Keep moving!"

The heavy thunk of metal punching through metal echoed through the armored truck. The first tried to gasp for air but the grating of steel could be heard, turning the gasp into a gurgled rasp.

"What the-" the second male voice managed to say.

Another heavy thunk, this one more blunt against the steel surface of the truck.

The door slammed open shortly after. Aisha couldn't take it anymore and had curled into a tight ball at the ear-shattering assault of noises. All she saw at the corner of her eye as she turned away from the door was white hair. There was a brief pause as the intruder seemed to be assessing the situation.

"Shit," a female's voice said under their breath, "Another decoy."

Without another word, the soft, padded footsteps of the intruder faded. Its sound was replaced by the shrill shriek of sirens arriving at the scene.

Aisha's mind was reeling. The flood of sensations was too much for her to handle. She laid there, her breath shallow and her mind feeling as if it were about to burst from her skull. Yet all she could see was Eve. Whatever the entity did… didn't do anything for her friend. Eve was still. She wasn't breathing. And that was all that Aisha could focus on before her own vision faded to black.


	3. Chapter 3: My Promise

**A/N: Hello, my lovelies! Here is another chapter, edited by Mirai-akina once more (thank you for the help). The previous chapter was pretty, dark, I must admit, but I promise you the rest of the story isn't planned on getting that dark ever again. "planned". I do have a lot of dramatic story arcs planned but compared to the previous chapter, the rest of the story should be more feeling based rather than blood and guts. (Yuck!)**

* * *

"I remember that incident," Elesis said, taking a sip of her coffee before hailing the waitress to refill her cup, "I was the first on the scene for the attack on another one of the armored trucks. But even though we were on high alert, they worked so efficiently that, by the time we arrived, the terrorists had already left the scene."

Aisha was silent. After recalling the memory, she hadn't said a word and opted to simply stare blankly at Elesis's mug being filled to the brim once more. It may have been three years ago, but the look on her best friend's face, the way her body hung limply upside down in the car wreck, brought a surge of grief she had buried within herself long ago.

Elesis's expression softened.

"I understand how you feel. That feeling that you're losing someone so important to you, yet you can't do anything to stop it? It's terrifying. But, it's all okay now, right? I mean, Eve came out of it just fine. A little worse for wear, but she's back to her old self, isn't she?"

Aisha's eyes traveled up to meet with Elesis's. Aisha wanted to tell her. But it was too soon. She wouldn't understand. The purplette turned her head away, sighing in an attempt to recollect herself.

Elesis picked up on this and immediately pulled the focus back on the matter at hand, "So this 'relic' you found…"

"Ah… yeah. The relic," Aisha muttered, a bit of life drained from her tone.

The lieutenant pressed on, "I remember there was a conference scheduled that night with the president of Altera Inc. But because of the incident, he never disclosed what the meeting was about. If what you're saying is true, and this relic exists, I assume you possessed it for some time?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're trying to get me to say," Aisha insisted, "I didn't _want_ it to begin with, but it just came to me. I couldn't leave it."

"Do you still have it with you?"

Aisha glanced over her shoulder at the surrounding patrons. Most have gathered around the bar and were more interested in the menu than a couple of women sitting at the corner. Aisha then extended her right hand onto the table, displaying a rather polished copper band wrapped around her ring finger.

"This is it. This was the object Altera Inc. wanted to showcase that night… granted it's not in its original form anymore, but rather, the form it chose to be in."

"This relic _chose_ to be a ring?"

Aisha nodded, "That's the simplest way to explain it, yeah."

At first glance, none would take any notice of it other than its luster. But upon closer inspection, Elesis noted the very slight shift in lighting around the ring's curved edges. It was ancient text that was completely lost to her. The text seemed to glow a soft pale white, pulsing on and off in a gentle wave around Aisha's finger.

"What… is this?" Elesis asked, intrigued by how intricately beautiful the strange markings danced on the band.

"I've researched the text. Phonetically it's pronounced 'mimir'. As for its meaning… the only answer I can come up with is that it might be a name."

"How'd you come to that conclusion?"

Aisha shrugged, "Do you know what 'mimir' means? Because I don't. I don't know what else to call it other than that."

"Here… let me see," Elesis replied, taking the ring in her hand and trying to pull it off Aisha's finger. Despite how perfectly it appeared to fit the young woman's finger, the band held fast to the ring bearer, even to the point of Elesis threatening to yank Aisha's entire finger off.

"See?" Aisha winced, shaking her hand by the wrist. She pulled her hand away and showed Elesis that even she couldn't wrench the ring free. "It won't budge. Eve said this thing was magical and, honestly, I was a skeptic until I realized the relic wouldn't come off."

"And that was how you got your powers and became the Witch of Elysion?"

"Well," Aisha paused, her thoughts still lingering on her best friend, "Yes and no. It wasn't like I became the Witch overnight. But… things happened that made me decide that it was in my best interest to adopt that persona."

"And those things are…?"

Aisha frowned, indecisive about where to begin. To say there was any one moment where she decided to become the witch would be impossible.

Elesis tapped her finger on the table out of impatience, "The first one. Start from your very first act as a vigilante."

"Right. I got it," Aisha replied tapping her chin as she pieced the story together in her head, "Then the following day after the incident."

"That early, huh?"

"I wasn't exactly planning on doing anything heroic that day either. It just sorta… happened."

* * *

"Thanks for walking me all the way up here," Aisha said, a puff of steam escaping her lips from the cold hallway. At the far end of the hall, the early evening sunset was blotted out by thick hologram clouds. The forecast for Tower 7 was supposed to reach low enough for simulated snowfall. Standing in front of a door labeled 934, she fished out a small keychain and began fumbling with the lock.

"Don't worry about it," Elsword said, leaning against the wall, "Just wanted to make sure you were alright after what happened."

"You heard from the doctor," Aisha replied, rather dismissively, "He said I was lucky I escaped that crash with a minor concussion. I'm fine, Els. I'll probably get back to my usual routine tomorrow. What day is it today?"

"Saturday."

"Right. Saturday. Tomorrow's Sunday… I have cleaning to do. I think… I have an exam this coming week that I need to study for, so I have to get started with that. I'm fine... I'll be fine... I'm okay."

Despite what she was saying, they both watched as Aisha's shaky hands made it impossible for her to find the keyhole. It wasn't until Elsword reached over, helping her steady her hand, that she was able to unlock her door.

"You sure you're okay?" the red-head asked, staring deep into her eyes, concern riddling his face.

Aisha looked up at him, nodding meekly as she unknowingly clutched his hand tightly.

The cadet rolled his eyes. "I'm staying with you tonight."

"Els… I-" Aisha was interrupted as she was suddenly gently pushed into her apartment.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just get up earlier in the morning and drive to the academy from here. I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind."

Elsword kicked off his boots, vaulting over the couch and landing with an audible crunching sound under him as he sat down. He immediately stood up, pulling out a messy bag of chips that had emptied its contents in between the couch cushions.

"Whoops. Sorry."

"I...its okay," Aisha muttered, still standing at the doorway, clinging on to her keys.

Elsword was already in the process of shaking the crumbs out of the cushions and sorting through the small mess the girl had left the day prior. He shifted a large blanket aside and found a small pile of books his girlfriend had binge read over the course of the week. He picked one up, shaking the chip crumbs off the cover and looked over the title, surprised to see it was, in fact, a comic book of some sort. He expected the collection to be more of the boring technical nature rather than the rainbow of colors that stared back at him. The book in his hands was apparently the tenth of a series of forty and featured an overly sparkly looking heroine dressed in a female sailor's uniform. Bright red roses bordered the foreground with a yellow crescent moon in the backdrop.

"Huh. I never knew you were into this kind of stuff," Elsword muttered, quickly flipping through the pages. The pages were old, as if they've been read hundreds of times over. He stopped at a large centerfold of the book, the climax of a story arc where the heroine is reunited with a strange tuxedo-wearing masked man, and a small smile crept along the young man's face. He had unknowingly stumbled across one of the purplette's guilty pleasures.

He looked up from the book, his smile fading as he noted Aisha hadn't moved from the doorway. The purplette stared past the far wall of her apartment, keys held tightly over her chest.

"Aisha?"

"Hm?" Her response was hollow and distant.

"Go on and get changed. I'll clean this up."

"... Okay."

She shuffled down the hallway, feet carrying her to her room where she gathered her pajamas autonomously.

The purplette may have appeared calm on the outside, but within her mind was a whirlwind of emotions and incomplete trains of thought. What happened the night prior was something she couldn't quite piece together. All she could remember was blinding light and an assault of sensations that overwhelmed her body. Half of her mind struggled to comprehend everything that occurred, while the other half was desperately trying to pull her back to the normal routine of her daily life. She needed to get things done tomorrow. She had a schedule to follow. But what exactly happened last night? Why was she suddenly home? Shouldn't she still be working in Altera Inc.?

The only time she realized anything was happening was when Elsword was already in the process of carrying the sobbing mess that she was, out of the bathtub. Her thoughts continued to swim in circles, past the point where she was helped getting dressed, past some muffled words as she was led back to the sofa, and past the blur of an unknown conversation as she stared at the flicker of a fire crackling in front of her. Time only returned to its normal pace when she was suddenly struck by a massive wave of hunger. A blanket had been wrapped tightly around her and she was leaning against Elsword, who, at this time, had dozed off in front of the artificial fireplace.

She glanced at her phone and saw it was just past ten in the evening. Her initial thought was to dig into the bag of chips she had lying around somewhere in the living room, but Aisha quickly remembered that was no longer an option. It was Saturday. She was supposed to go grocery shopping today… But why didn't she?

"No matter," she thought, as she shuffled out of her blanket, "I'll just run to the convenience store down the street for a quick snack."

A quick glimpse through the shades of her window revealed that a light snowfall had begun outside. She opted to let her boyfriend sleep and crept into her bedroom where she slipped into her indigo-colored winter wear. As she got dressed, Aisha noticed a copper band wrapped around her finger. Where it came from, she wasn't sure. She would never go out of her way to buy something as ugly and plain looking as that. She attempted to pull it off. Despite how easily it twisted in her finger and how it clearly wasn't tight enough to cut off circulation, it strangely wouldn't budge. She stared at it, perplexed at what was holding it in place before trying to remove it yet again. After a while, the only thing she achieved was the sensation of her finger joints throbbing from being stretched so much. Her next thought was whether she was hallucinating at all. She knocked the ring against the wood of her dresser and got a crisp, clear tap of metal on wood. She definitely wasn't imagining things.

Her stomach growled once more, and she quickly lost interest in the ring, opting to figure it out later when she had food in her. After throwing on a purple beanie and a blue scarf, she quietly made her way out of the door and was in the elevator by the time she received a text from Elsword.

_[whered u go?]_

_[Hungry. Just running to the convenience store.]_

_[i can getit 4 u]_

_[No, it's fine. I can manage. I'm already on my way down. Be back soon.]_

_[u sure?]_

_[Yep! Don't worry! ;)]_

The elevator doors slid open at the bottom floor, and she was greeted with a minor gust of cold wind from the open apartment entrance. She pulled the scarf over her mouth and nose before stepping out into the lightly layered sidewalk.

Snow wasn't anything new to Aisha. Tower 7 was one of the residential districts in Elysion that had regular simulated snowfall during the winter season. To accommodate businesses and tourism on the more commercialized districts, places such as Tower 9 rarely dropped below freezing. By having a lax weather control system on the residential-focused districts like Tower 7, companies were able to control income from power usage and promote visitation on the other warmer areas of Elysion.

The walk wasn't that far either. Just a few buildings down was a convenience store she often visited when she was pulling an all-nighter studying for one of her classes. As she made her way down the street, she passed a closed electronics store that often had one of its holo-vision sets running overnight. A news broadcast was on display. The projected image of a news reporter was babbling on silently with pre-recorded closed captions being plastered on as talk bubbles for the speaker.

Aisha paused after reading the headline, taking a few steps back to give the display her full attention.

"Attackers still at large. Investigation of known crime syndicates continue," the headlines read.

The purplette stared at the brief recorded images, each of different armored trucks, most of which had their rear doors blasted open. She squinted at the images, a familiar sense of dread building in her gut. Uncertain why, she read through the closed captions, while the reporter went on about a coordinated terrorist assault that left over a dozen Nasod guards destroyed and several civilians injured… one in unknown condition.

The image flicked to a recorded skycam that hovered over a scene that immediately brought a wave of nausea to Aisha's stomach:

A black hover car had been flipped onto some turf, its front engine had been completely torn off and was effectively wedged behind the back of an armored car. A fire had started in the hover car's rear engine, and, by the time firefighters had arrived on the scene, half of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The camera cut back to the newsroom with the anchor continuing with the story.

"...The assailants had been inexplicably killed before law enforcement arrived on scene, leading officials to suspect a third party to be involved in this attack. The condition of Eve Nasod, the daughter of the president of Altera Inc, looked grim as her body was pulled from the wreckage. After a brief visit to the hospital, Eve had been moved to Altera Inc. headquarters where her current state remains unknown. When questioned on the matter, the president has asked that we respect their privacy at this time but he did have this to say."

The hologram flicked to Adrian's face.

"... What has happened is inexcusable. To have this level of organization from a terrorist group directly attack my family and my company is a clear sign of how lax our security has become. I will be taking appropriate steps to ensure that this does not happen again. I only hope that Elysion's superiors do the same."

He looked to be on the verge of tears, and Aisha mirrored that sentiment as her memories came crashing back to her. She understood why he was distraught. She understood why he looked at each camera as if directly addressing the assailants that were sure to be watching. In her mind, she saw more than the flash of light before the impact. She saw how the sky and the ground continually flipped around in front of her. She saw glass tearing through cloth. She saw blood pooling at the roof of the flipped car. She saw the life disappear from Eve's eyes.

Aisha leaned against the glass window, hand over her mouth as she dry-heaved directly on the pavement. Her hunger was gone and was replaced by a shaking weakness in her legs that nearly caused her to fall over.

She couldn't watch anymore. Not all the memories of the incident had come back to her, but it was enough. Her attention fell on the ring once more. Its dull surface emitted a curious pulse of soft white light that, oddly enough, calmed her nerves. Another white pulse, and the nausea faded somewhat. Enough to remind her that she would be hungry again. Once the sickness left her, Aisha willed herself to at least buy something from the store instead of returning to the warmth of her apartment empty-handed. She pulled the blue scarf back over the lower half of her face and continued on.

As she walked the rest of the way to the convenience store, she examined the strange light emanating from the ring. There didn't seem to be any apparent power source fitted within the small piece of jewelry, nor did there appear to be a way for the ring to generate such a curious light show. Aisha made a mental note to bring the issue up with someone who might know what the object actually was when she had the chance.

The convenience store's bell dinged as she entered, and she was greeted with the warmth of a cranked up heater. An old lady with curly, dyed-brown hair styled into an afro sat behind the counter. She greeted Aisha with a smile before turning her attention back to the television hanging above the collection of cheap liquor bottles.

"Pulling another all-nighter, young lady?" the old cashier asked, not taking her eyes off the news station.

"Just coming in for a snack," Aisha mumbled. As she shuffled past the register, she caught bits and pieces of the ongoing news coverage.

"... In response to Mr. Nasod's call for aid, Hamel Bionics' president, Helputt Seiker, had this to say on the matter."

"Once again, the limitations of artificial intelligence rears its ugly head. Adrian is right: steps need to be taken to counteract this terrorist organization, but we are moving in the wrong direction. We need increased security, yes, but to put our faith on faulty threat-identifying algorithms will only lead to further discourse in our city. What we need are _manned_ retinues. Soldiers that can recognize problems that machines cannot. I'll be discussing the implementation of bio-enhanced security with the city's guardians over the next few days. Rest assured, we will apprehend those involved with yesterday's attack. We will bring these criminals to justice."

"We're out of your favorite ice cream, unfortunately."

"That's fine. I was looking for something warm anyways… do you have anything for stomach pains?"

The old lady looked at the girl tightly wrapped in winter clothes.

"You getting sick?"

"A little."

The cashier nodded, not pressing any further. She motioned the general direction with her puffy head, "Aisle three."

"Aisle three…" Aisha repeated, walking towards the back first along the refrigerated section of the store. She quickly grabbed a couple of plastic-wrapped rice balls, one for her and another for Elsword, before looking for the stomach medicine. She stopped at shelves filled with over-the-counter pharmaceutical goods and bath soaps.

As Aisha perused over the selection of pain-killers, cough drops, and band-aids, she heard the distinct ring of the doorbell once more. She read through the back cover of pink-colored stomach capsules and was in the process of deciding between the thick, bubble-gum flavored syrup or the extra-strength pills that looked one size too big for her to comfortably swallow, when a loud bang at the front counter caught her attention.

"I said open the register!" a male voice demanded, "I'm not asking again!"

Aisha froze, holding the bundles of bottles and packages close to her chest as she stared at the end of the aisle towards the front of the store. A thick black jacket could be seen dipping in and out of her line of sight. She could hear the old lady muttering in a frenzied panic followed by the sound of a cashier drawer flying open. Looking up at the convex mirror hanging on the wall, Aisha saw the man was pointing a gun at the cashier. The poor lady had her back pressed on the wall, doing her best to not stare down the barrel of the weapon as her hands gingerly fished out the cash from the shelf.

"Fill it up! Now!" the robber ordered, tightening his grip on the weapon as he tossed an empty bag in front of the lady. Her reaction was to immediately cover her head, prompting the assailant to lose his patience and reach over the counter to strike her on her temple. The lady screamed as she cowered behind the desk, hands over her head.

"Oh… shit," Aisha whispered, her voice trembling as she pressed herself against the shelves along the aisle. She dug in her pockets for her phone to call the police. What happened instead was the phone immediately going to her text log with Elsword. Panic got the better of her as she opted to type a single word on the text bar before sending:

_[help]_

She shook herself out of her panicked state, realizing this was all a stupid idea. She needed to call the authorities now, before-

The store's bell rang once more and two gunshots quickly followed. Aisha spun her head to the front only to find an unlucky customer falling to the ground clutching at his chest.

The cashier screamed before the robber banged on the counter to silence her.

"Shit! Shut up! I said _shut up_! You scream one more time and I'll shoot you too! Fill up the bag! _Do it_!"

The plastic bottle of stomach relief syrup slipped out of Aisha's arms, hitting the tiled floor with a dull, but audible, slapping sound.

"The hell was that?"

Aisha covered her mouth, quickly grabbing the bottle in a fruitless attempt to undo the noise. She held her breath as she tried to slide further away from the front of the store.

"I know someone's back there. I heard you!" Aisha heard the heavy footfalls of boots as they began scanning through the aisles. "Come out, come out!"

Aisha dove behind the endcap of the aisle just as she heard the robber enter aisle three. She slid into a sitting position with her back pressed against a box tower of canned beer.

"I saw that," Aisha could practically hear the grin across the man's face, "Come on out. Don't make me hunt you down!"

The purplette's heart pounded in her chest as she looked for other options. He could very easily look over the other aisles and follow her out if she tried to make a run for it. Her head whipped about for anything she could use. She needed a weapon. She needed some way to defend herself.

The ring around her finger flashed a pale white, drawing her eyes to her hand pressed against the checkered pattern tile. The light quickly coalesced into multiple bright fragments that began to take shape under the palm of her hand. It was weightless, at first, until the shape became a recognizable grip in her hands. Like someone dropping a small rock onto her palm, the fragments manifested itself into a rather hefty rod shape. Its length is a little longer than her arm. At first it appeared to be forming a simple white-colored metal pipe, but all assumptions were thrown out of the window when a large pink and gold star took shape at the end of the rod. Tiny white wings appeared on either side of the star and the entire rod pulsed a bright white before its light faded completely.

Aisha stared dumbly at the object in her hand. What was she supposed to do with this? A suggestion pushed its way into her mind. It was a strange sensation that she recognized. Something was speaking to her, but it wasn't using words. She was to confront the assailant. Like hell she'd do that! The guy had a gun! She may be armed, now, but she had no experience with weapons let alone hand-to-hand combat.

A loud bang echoed through the store, and Aisha yelped, covering her head as the bullet tore through a box of beer right above her head.

"Found you!" the robber cried as the alcohol sprayed over Aisha's beanie. She quickly rolled away from it and stumbled to her feet along aisle two with rod still in hand. She had to make a break for the door!

Two more gunshots and the shelves around her burst, showering her with plastic shrapnel.

Aisha reached the end of the aisle and, to her horror, found the robber waiting for her to her right.

He pointed the weapon at her, and Aisha instinctively raised her hands to shield herself.

In that instant, she felt a strange sensation in her head, like something was being pulled from her mind. The staff in her hand flashed, warping the very space around her, radiating outward. The purplette lost her footing and rolled to the floor. She covered her head and half expected the man to walk up to her and plant a bullet into her back where she laid. But there was nothing. Nothing except a strange, deep, droning rumble that echoed throughout the room.

Aisha looked up, eyes focusing on a pair of brown construction boots standing at the end of aisle three. He hadn't moved. Why? And what was that rumbling sound?

She turned her head further upward and, to her shock, saw the slow expanding flash of light escaping the muzzle of the gun. The bullet had just exited the barrel at this point and was traversing the air at a snail's pace. The rumbling, Aisha deduced, was the "bang". The robber wore the typical ski mask under a hoodie, and his eyes seemed to be locked onto a target that was no longer there. What was going on?

Examining her surroundings, she noticed the old lady cowering behind the counter, her movement almost non-existent as she clutched a bleeding wound on her temple. Even the television hanging above the liquor shelves seemed to be frozen in place.

Time had stopped. Or rather, it had significantly slowed. Why? What was causing this?

As she took a step towards the door, she noticed a thrum of energy pulsing from the staff in hands. She glanced at it, noting the pulsing glow that emanated from the pink and golden star. Did the staff do this? Did _she_ do this? How long was this supposed to last?

She took another step towards the door. It didn't matter. As long as she wasn't rendered helpless like last time, she could escape. She turned fully towards the exit, making for the door when she was suddenly struck with the sight of the second customer lying at the entrance. He was alive-curled into a ball and lying in a pool of his own blood.

A throbbing pain ripped through Aisha's mind, and she clutched at her head, eyes shut as she willed the pain to go away. She opened her eyes. And to her horror, she found herself no longer looking at a man… but at Eve... lying at her friend's feet. Life was fading from Eve's golden eyes as she stared helplessly up at Aisha. An arm was extended towards her. Her friend was reaching out for her, yet all Aisha could do was stand there, wishing she could do something about it.

She blinked. Eve was gone. In her place was the body of a man still clutching at his open wound. Despite this, the memory of her friend was burned into her mind. Aisha wasn't going to let that happen again.

Not if she could help it.

Aisha turned back towards the robber, a surge of adrenaline and vindication coursing through her veins. By then, the bullet had connected through one of the liquor bottles behind the front counter and was in the process of burrowing itself into the brick wall. Despite not knowing how much time she had, a strange, almost-empty sensation pulsed in her head. She felt that she only had a few moments left before time reverted itself back to normal.

No longer hesitating, the purplette strode over to the robber and she struck the weapon out of his hand in a downward swing with her staff. Upon touching the weapon, however, the object seemed to momentarily revert to its regular speed as it fell out of the man's hand. The casing was flicked out of its chamber, and, as the gun left the robber's hand, the casing and the weapon strangely returned to its slowed state.

Ignoring this, she placed both hands on the robber, shoving him down the aisle. In that moment, just like the weapon, time seemed to return to the crook as confusion flashed in his eyes. Aisha released him, slowing his body once more.

The draining feeling in her head ceased as whatever well of power in her mind completely dried up. Time quickly resumed its normal pace, and the gun clattered harmlessly on the floor at Aisha's feet. The crook, however, wasn't so lucky. His body flew the entire length of the aisle, stopping only when he came crashing through the glass door of the milk storage.

Milk from the upper shelves fell on the crook's head as his body lay limp on the floor. Aisha stood in shock at the recent string of events. The staff in her hand had vanished. She hadn't noticed it had disappeared until she went searching for the firearm on the floor. Spotting it, the purplette kicked it towards the door, away from the crook should he get up again, before hurrying to the cashier.

"Are you okay?" Aisha asked, clutching at the woman's wrist to get her to calm down. The woman gasped, turning her head away in fear as Aisha struggled to calm her down.

"Everything's fine now! I think he's unconscious!" she declared, causing the woman's trembling to stop.

"What… what happened?" the cashier muttered, eyes wide as she looked for any sign of movement in the aisles.

"I… I don't know," Aisha replied, honesty ringing strong in her voice as she didn't know how to explain it herself, "But I need you to call the police-and an ambulance, too!"

The purplette rushed around the counter to the man's side. She rolled him to his back, gently grasping him by his hand in an attempt to calm him down. She may not have been able to help Eve that night, but if there was a way she could atone, this had to be it. She was just glad she took first-aid training the semester prior.

"Sir? Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to move your hands. I need to see the damage."

The victim groaned, resisting only momentarily before painfully moving his arms aside. She undid his jacket and pulled aside his shirt, revealing a bloody wound in his belly. Her initial reaction was to look away, but the memory of Eve kept her focused on the task at hand.

"It doesn't look so bad," Aisha reassured him, "The store owner's calling the ambulance, right now. So I just need you to breathe normally and I'll stop the bleeding… alright?"

"O-okay…" the man stammered. He looked down at the wound, and Aisha quickly tapped him in the chin, forcing him to stare at the ceiling.

"I, uh, would prefer it if you didn't watch me work. I get nervous and all," Aisha forced a chuckle and ignored the amount of blood flowing out of the man's gut. Aisha undid her jacket and tore off a large strip of her pajama top before turning to the cashier. "You're calling the ambulance, right?!" she yelled before balling up the strip of cloth and pressing it on the wound.

"Y-yes! Yes, I am!" the old lady replied.

"Aisha? Aisha!" Elsword's voice could be heard closing in, and the young man burst through the door, his eyes wild as he assessed the scene before him.

"What happened… holy… Aisha-"

"There's an unconscious man at the back of the store. His gun's here by my feet. Make sure he doesn't move a muscle!"

"H-how did all of this-"

"Watch him!" Aisha repeated, louder this time, and causing Elsword to come to his senses.

"Got it!" He picked up the firearm and checked the magazine before moving to the rear of the store. "He's still there. I think he's coming to…"

"You make sure he doesn't move. Police are on their way. Thanks, Els."

All the while, Aisha put pressure on the man's wound and inspected him for any other injuries. Satisfied, she placed the man's hand over the cloth and told him to hold it there while she elevated his feet.

"Thank… you…" the man whispered.

"Don't worry about it," Aisha whispered, turning her attention to the distant sound of sirens. She looked down at the man, words stopping at her throat as she suddenly found herself looking at Eve once more. "You're going to be okay… I promise."


	4. Chapter 4: Learning the Ropes

**A/N: Big thanks to Mirai-Akina for proofreading this chapter! A few announcements: I'm going to focus a lot more on Our Inner Demons until it's done. Until then, this story will be on a temporary hiatus! There's also this neat Elsword tumblr page for fan requests and such here: **** .c om. ****And finally if you're interested in joining a group of Elsword fanfiction writers, join the Elsword Fanfiction Brigade! We have a discord server. Just pm me for a link!**

* * *

"Thanks for letting her stay at your place," Elsword said to Kuenbaran as they followed Aisha up the wooden staircase to the second-floor living quarters.

"It's no problem, Elsword," the old restaurant owner said, "It's a great suggestion, and I could always use an extra hand to help with work in the morning."

"Er… sorry, gramps, but I wanted her here so you can keep an eye on her. Not put her to work-"

"Don't worry, Els," Aisha said, throwing him a smile before leading them to her old bedroom, "Grandpa knows I'm more relaxed if I keep my hands busy. Besides… it's the least I can do for letting me stay."

Aisha set aside her small rolling travel bag and flopped on the recently washed bed sheets, taking in the scent of her old bedroom.

"Haven't been in this room for years," Elsword chuckled, "Good to see the old man didn't take down any of your decorations."

There were numerous science-related motivational posters as well as trophies and ribbons for district-wide tech fairs that the young woman had participated in. Dusty books lined a small bookshelf that sat next to a desk that had been altered to function as a simple robotics workbench. Aisha remembered the look of surprise when he first snuck into her room and found out he was dating a total nerd.

"I kept them here in case she decided to come back," Kuenbaran said, "And don't you worry about paying for anything, Aisha. What kind of grandparent would I be if I charged my own grandchild for staying?"

"Thanks, grandpa," Aisha said, staring up at the ceiling and kicking her legs as she rode her nostalgia wave, "I promise I won't be here too long."

"Stay as long as you like, Aisha. I appreciate the company."

* * *

Elysion's 3rd district, colloquially called "The Pens", was a segment of the city notorious for its poor living conditions. High population, low income residents, and minimal police patrol created the perfect breeding ground for illegal activities.

Somewhere within the tight alleyways of the district, a scene not uncommon to the area was playing out:

"So, do you have it?" a figure asked. Face hidden under a black hood, they wore a bright white winter jacket and jeans. As they spoke, their voice carried a noticeable quiver not attributed to the cold air. The glow of a single back alley light cast a shadow over the wearer's face. All the while, another hooded figure toting a simple sports bag approached.

They stood a fair distance apart as a silent standoff between the two began. The second was the first to break the silence with a chuckle.

"You new to this, or what?" the second asked, stopping a fair distance away from the first. "You don't fucking ask if anyone has anything."

The first said nothing further as a knowing sneer peeked out of the second figure's hood.

"I ain't stupid, lady," the second grunted. He gripped his bag tighter to his chest and turned to leave. "I'm outta here."

He spun around and, to his surprise, ran straight into the first. He didn't even see the first hooded figure move. Confusion filled him as he found himself blocked from leaving the alleyway.

The familiar flash of approaching police cars could be seen on the street.

"What the hell-" his eyes fell on a glowing staff tucked behind the first, and he raised his arms to defend himself.

"You're not going anywhere," the first said as time began to slow around her. She threw a punch that landed square on the second's jaw. The brief contact temporarily pulled the second out of the timewarp, sending him stumbling back before contact was broken, and his body was frozen into real time again.

The warp ended. The force of the impact caught up with the second as his body was sent spinning in the air before rolling to a stop in a beaten and broken heap.

Aisha pulled her hood away, gasping at her own strength before rushing to the body to see if he was still alive.

She rolled him over, all the while shaking the sharp sting that lingered on her fist. Thankfully, he was breathing, but his jaw was completely shattered. Perhaps bringing time to a near stop was too much.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" Aisha whispered as she quickly opened the man's bag and found what she was looking for: bio-enhancing drugs. She breathed a sigh of relief as Aisha placed the drugs back in his bag and zipped it up. Normally, she'd wait for them to show the goods before acting. This was sloppy… incredibly sloppy. With no experience in hand-to-hand, Aisha panicked when he tried to make a run for it and did what she thought was best. She intended to simply knock him out, not break his jaw! Subduing criminals was one thing, but if it turned out this individual was just an innocent bystander, she didn't know if she would ever forgive herself.

The rumble of police cars drew close, and she quickly unfolded a flap of cardboard. _Drug Dealer_ had been written in all capital letters on the board, and she gently tucked it under the man's limp arm just as the police officers arrived at the scene. She pulled out a marker and quickly wrote an extra message. "Broken jaw. Call an ambulance."

Satisfied, she stood, letting the flow of energy encompass her in a timewarp once more. The cars slowed and the movement of the police officers exiting the vehicles came to a complete halt. With time around her brought to a standstill, Aisha quickly used the opportunity to make her escape.

As she left the scene, Aisha caught a glimpse of a familiar face in the middle of pulling off his seatbelt as she passed. It was Elsword. Exiting the driver seat was his father, Elkashu. Even late at night, the father was still training his son. She quietly blew him a kiss before pulling the hood over her head and putting herself discreetly out of sight just as the time warp spell faded around her.

Aisha stumbled out of the spell and leaned against a pillar out of view from the police. Sweat poured down her face despite the cold winter air. She was desperately out of breath at this point. She had only used the time warp ability twice in that encounter… so why did she feel so drained? This wasn't like the last few encounters.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Elsword rush out of the car with his father. They were responding a lot quicker compared to the previous nights. Had she taken any longer, Aisha would have surely been caught. But, in a way, Aisha felt glad she made this job easy for both of them.

Aisha pulled out a notepad and flipped past hundreds of notes taken regarding her powers and began scribbling down her findings. She didn't understand why she felt so exhausted after only using her abilities twice. Her first encounter she used time warp five times before her body began feeling repercussions. On the third encounter, she managed to push herself to ten.

She scratched her head and thought back on the drug sting she pulled just now. Wanting to test the limits of the time warp, she was successful in bringing her surroundings to a near standstill. Yet, as she did so, she was only able to hold the spell twice and for a fraction of the time she was used to. Maybe it was correlated to how slow she made time flow around her?

_Slower time = More energy consumption ?_ _More tests required._

Aisha circled the bullet point several times before tucking the notepad back in her pocket. This was her fourth field test of the ring's powers. After the convenience store robbery, Aisha saw the potential of good the ring could bring in the right hands. Inspired by curiosity and her recent binge reading of her favorite visual novel heroine, the purplette took it upon herself to learn what she could about the ring attached to her finger. What followed was a week-long series of trial and error eventually leading her to live field tests on petty criminals.

Thus far, her findings only lead to two conclusions: it's incredibly difficult to get in contact with the seedy underbelly of Elysion, and she had no idea how to fight.

The relic's powers were still largely a mystery, and it would take months, even years, for any one person to even scrape the surface of its potential.

She couldn't stay long to think on her recent test, however. She needed to get back home and rest. Tomorrow was the first day she was allowed back on her internship. She could present her research to Adrian, and he can figure out how to remove the ring from her finger.

* * *

"Argh!" Mr. Cronwell writhed in his seat as the technician tweaked a wire in his mechanical arm that she wasn't supposed to have tampered with. "Do you even know what you're doing?!"

"Sorry! I… I didn't mean to!" the woman said, pulling the screwdriver away.

"I knew I should've waited for Eve… She said she was going to upgrade my arm herself!"

"Sorry… Again, I am not very good at this," the technician said, bowing her head.

Aisha, who had been observing the entire ordeal, fidgeted restlessly as the technician tried, once more, to fix a malfunctioning motor carefully tucked within the arm's wiring.

Without Eve's expertise on the matter, this technician was the only one available to help Mr. Cronwell adjust the temporary fixes made to his prosthetic… and she was terrible at it.

She was a young woman with long black hair. Several of her long locks held strange white streaks and was fixed together with a large black and white bow. She also had a noticeable accent; one that Aisha wasn't too familiar with. Perhaps the most striking feature of the woman was her heterochromatic eyes. Her left was a soft amber and her right had a deeper, reddish hue.

The technician tried once more, but was stopped by Mr. Cronwell. "Enough. Honestly, I'd rather just wait until Eve is available."

A look of defeat filled the technician's face, and she relented, handing him the parts to put his arm back together. He tried to adjust his arm to put the plating back on himself, but Aisha could see him struggle to even move it.

"I can do it for you," Aisha chimed in. She couldn't just let the poor guy suffer waiting for Eve to come back.

"Aren't you that intern that Eve introduced me to?" Mr. Cronwell asked warily.

"Yes. But I know my way around machines. It's just a simple motor malfunction, right? I've worked on a few before. Give me a chance, and I'll have your arm back in working order."

Mr. Cronwell eyed her before relenting. "Fine."

The technician stepped aside, letting Aisha take her seat. The intern nodded at her. "I got it from here."

Aisha stared at whirring gears and wires, quietly tracing each to their respective origins and making mental notes on which one she could temporarily detach without hurting the user. The task was complicated, but nothing she couldn't handle. In fact, she felt at home dealing with the precise circuitry of machines. It was a lot more interesting than fetching coffee for employees for several hours at a time, and this was her chance to really set an impression with the other workers.

Carefully, she pulled at a wire and began to unscrew the copperhead that held it in place. Once undone, she pulled the wire free, setting it aside before looking up at Mr. Cronwell to see if he was okay. No reaction. He was quite handsome up close. Very rugged looking. And he had all those scars-

She shook her head and continued working, unscrewing a panel that granted her access to the tiny gears that operated the prosthetic's elbow joints.

After the delicate procedure of reaching the gears, the rest was pretty much cleaning and replacement. Her mind began to wander as she pieced the gears together, her fingers moving efficiently as her thoughts fell on more important tasks ahead.

She still had the issue of seeing the head of Altera Inc. That had been her goal the entire day, and sitting around doing nothing for most of the afternoon had left her restless.

She had to speak to Adrian and no one else. Ever since the accident last week, Aisha had the same nightmare over and over again. She remembered Eve hanging upside down, motionless in the car wreck. She remembered the sound of gunshots just outside of the overturned armored truck she had crawled into. She remembered seeing flowing white hair as someone burst in searching for something before abruptly leaving.

They were looking for the relic; the very same object that had manifested itself as a ring around her finger. Based on her study, in the wrong hands, the relic would be used as a devastating weapon. She couldn't entrust that kind of knowledge to anyone other than the head of Altera Inc. Adrian already understood the risk. That was why he went through extensive measures to conceal the moving of the relic from one place to another. After what happened to Eve, Aisha was sure Adrian would do whatever it takes to help extract the relic and put it into safe keeping.

If only she could just _speak_ to him!

"All finished," Aisha said, screwing in the last of the paneling and sitting back with a satisfied sigh.

Mr. Cronwell raised his arm with significantly more ease, and he tested the grip on his fingers before nodding in approval. "Impressive. Thanks."

"I… uh… believe you have to speak to the lobby attendant a floor below regarding your repairs."

"Will do. Thanks, um…"

"Aisha. Aisha Landaar," she held out her hand and he shook it before putting on his shirt. The man left the room, and she watched him enter the waiting elevator at the end of the hall.

As she watched him leave, her eyes were drawn to a nearby television hung up on a wall at the nearby waiting room. It was a news update regarding the accident that happened last week. Recordings of interviews with Adrian were replayed as the anchor went on detailing how the CEO of Altera Inc. had yet to comment on the matter.

Rumours had been circulating about his daughter's condition as well. Though little was known about Eve's current state, some believed that she was in a coma and had yet to wake up. Others believed she had made a full recovery, and the incident had caused Adrian to realize the time with his family to be more precious than anything else and had decided to spend more time with his only daughter. Other, more radical rumours stated that the large spike in experimental equipment being sent to the upper levels are due to the fact that Eve's limbs had to be amputated, and much of her body had been replaced by prosthetics.

These were all, of course, simply rumours that Aisha took with a grain of salt. Until she actually had a chance to see Adrian and visit Eve, she refused to draw any conclusion on the matter… if only she could draw a conclusion herself. Access to the private upper suite was restricted unless Adrian or Eve specifically authorized it, so taking the elevator was completely out of the question. But at this rate, she wondered if she'd ever have a chance to see either of them. Unless…

"Welcome to Altera Inc.," A hologram of Oberon greeted just as Aisha pushed the button on the elevator for the upper levels, "Unfortunately, suite access is limited to-"

"Hi, Oberon. It's Aisha."

"Ah, Ms. Landaar! A pleasure to see you again. How are you faring?" the hologram asked, giving her a proper bow.

"I could be better… what with the accident and all."

"I've heard. Poor dear… When the news reached the tower of you and Mistress Eve's accident, I was stricken with worry! It's good to see you are in good health."

"Yeah… I came out of it unscathed for the most part," Aisha shrugged, "But… since we're on the topic… how's Eve?"

The hologram flickered as there was a notable pause in the android butler's response, "I'm not at liberty to say, Ms. Landaar."

"Oh, c'mon, Oberon. Surely you can tell me? I'm her best friend. I'm really worried about her."

"I… I understand, Ms. Landaar. But my programming… Only Mistress Eve or Master Adrian can authorize the release of such delicate information, and I'm afraid that I'm just not able to disclose it to you."

"Can you at least let me see her? Is that possible?"

"Unfortunately no, Ms. Landaar. I'm truly sorry."

"Please?" Aisha gave the hologram the best pleading look she could, "I worry about Eve every day. I just want to know if she's doing okay. Please, Oberon, I'm begging you."

The hologram flickered as the butler stroked his chin in consideration. He wasn't really… was he?

After a brief pause, Oberon looked over his shoulder as if checking if someone was watching. "You there," he said out of the blue, "are you free at the moment?"

Aisha blinked and realized that he was addressing her. "What… Me? Er… yes? I just finished my shift half an hour ago… Oberon? What's going on?"

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but as efficient as I am running the multiple levels of administrative work, I am unable to fulfill some of my master's demands. It is almost time for Master Adrian's afternoon coffee. Would you be so kind as to prepare a cup for him and bring it to the suite?"

Aisha stared, perplexed at the hologram as none of this seemed to make any sense to her. It wasn't until the android gave the purplette a knowing wink that she understood what he was trying to do.

"A-at once! What kind of coffee does he like?"

"I wouldn't worry about the specifics, ma'am. I'll handle it from there."

"T-thanks, Oberon!"

Oberon smiled at her. "No, ma'am. Thank _you_."

* * *

She still felt drained. Even after a full night's rest and an entire day of classes and internship, Aisha felt as if the mysterious energy reserves used to activate her abilities were only a fraction of what they used to be.

As the elevator carried her to the top floor, she made a mental note never to bring time to a full stop again. She just hoped that if and when she saw Mr. Nasod, that there would be enough power to at least show Adrian what the ring was capable of.

The elevator doors opened, and Aisha nearly jumped upon seeing the tall, imposing figure of the butler standing at the entrance ready to greet her.

"Did you bring the requested item?" Oberon asked, raising a brow at the young woman.

Aisha held the tiny paper cup of cheap coffee she hurriedly made from her floor.

"Good. Good," Oberon nodded, stepping aside and letting her pass.

"Where are they keeping Eve?" Aisha asked, hurrying off the elevator only to be stopped when the android placed a hand on her shoulder. A hologram of the living quarters was projected in front of her. It showed her current position and highlighted her destination in the lower levels of the suit.

"This is Master Adrian's personal library. You are to deliver the coffee here. At the moment, Master Adrian is holding a meeting with all authorized personnel at the other end of the suite. He is scheduled to finish in another twenty minutes. It is highly advised you do not disturb him at any point of your delivery."

Aisha stared at the map and saw the entire east wing of the suite crossed off. She nodded quietly. So meeting him was off limits. It dampened her spirits knowing she'd have to put off meeting Adrian when he was so close, but what mattered to her most at the moment was Eve.

"Alternatively, Mistress Eve is resting in the second floor west wing. I would very much appreciate it if you completely avoided that wing as I have strict orders from my master not to let anyone visit her. Please, do not let me catch you wandering out of the intended path, or I will be forced to report you. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, Oberon."

The android threw her a knowing grin, "Excellent. Now if you excuse me, I must be at my master's side for approximately fifteen minutes. I trust you can find your way to your destination in that allotted time?"

"It should be plenty. Thanks, again."

The butler bowed and turned on his heel before making his way towards the eastern wing, leaving Aisha to wander the suite herself.

Wasting no time in taking in the grand hall, she first made her way towards Adrian's library. Walking down the hall with rays of simulated sunlight filtering in from outside the window, she quickly found the room she was looking for. Adrian's library was vast and expanded downward towards the lower floors, revealing shelves upon shelves of books and data terminals. To think that a man as busy as Adrian Nasod even had time to read all of these books when Aisha could barely find time to study, let alone read her comics, was mind boggling to her.

Shaking the thought from her head, she placed the coffee cup on the nearest desk before glancing at her clock for time. She had about thirteen minutes left. She had to hurry.

Aisha made her way back out to the grand hall, and she turned her eyes upward towards the walkway that led to Eve's personal wing. In that brief moment, she could have sworn she saw movement at the corner of her eyes. It was a woman with long, flowing white hair that disappeared over the railings.

"Eve…?" Aisha whispered. If Eve was walking around the halls, then that meant she was okay! Relief washed over Aisha as she hurried up the stairs after her. She ran along the western walkway, eager to catch up to her friend, towards the door that had been left ajar. It was there that she came to a complete halt as she stared at the long hallway.

Eve was nowhere to be seen. The large windows that lined the right side of the hallway no longer projected the expanse of beautiful green fields. The smog-filled cityscape of Tower 9 had taken its place with its false sun already disappearing behind the numerous skyscrapers in the distance, casting the hall in a dull blue light. There was a noticeable chill in the air as she stepped into the hallway. Her heels clicked softly against the marble surface, each step echoing the empty feeling of the entire wing.

It felt dead.

Brushing that notion out of her mind, Aisha pressed forward. Eve's room at the far end of the hall was barely visible, but a ray of fluorescent light filtered out from the door that led to Eve's personal workshop.

Was she working despite her condition? Aisha had always known Eve to be a workaholic, but Aisha couldn't excuse her friend's recklessness this time. She should be in her room resting!

Mentally preparing herself to give her friend a proper scolding, Aisha approached the door and peeked into the brightly-lit workshop. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but she could hear shuffling somewhere within the room.

She pushed her way in and was immediately greeted by a sprawl of prototype android parts lining the off-white walls of the workshop. Four different workbenches were cluttered with experimental machinery in different stages of development, and piles of notes and datapads were stacked almost as high as the benches they sat beside. Strange containment tubes sat on the far corners of the workshop and appeared to be preserving some incredibly sensitive electronics.

Standing in front of one of these tubes, was the same person she saw at the grand hall. Her long, flowing hair cascaded past her waist, and she appeared to be wearing a white lab coat that bore the Altera Inc. logo on its shoulder.

It was difficult to see from the grand hall, but standing level with this individual, Aisha knew that this person definitely wasn't Eve. The woman was staring at the containment tube, operating a strange handheld device that was raised in front of the tube. It gave the user a series of readings that ultimately flashed red, garnering a frustrated grunt from the individual.

Aisha's initial reaction was to duck back into the hallway to avoid being spotted. Only authorized personnel were allowed in the upper floors, after all, and Aisha was not about to get caught.

The handheld in the individual's hands let out a series of soft beeps that caught the white-haired woman's attention, and she followed it. Slowly she turned around until she stood face to face with Aisha, giving the purplette ample time to take in her features.

Apart from the woman's flowing white hair, Aisha noted the woman's build. She was taller than Aisha, and only slightly taller than Eve. She had a pronounced bust that even her lab coat draped over her form couldn't hide. Her face had a light complexion with four noticeable red marks on the woman's cheeks. She was beautiful, Aisha couldn't deny it, but the woman also bore a pair of intensely red eyes that brought an unsettling chill down the purplette's spine.

They both stared at each other for a long moment before the other woman realized there was someone else in the room. Aisha noted the brief look of confusion in the individual's eyes.

"Sorry. No one else was here, I thought," the woman said, brushing the bangs back. Her voice carried a noticeable accent that Aisha had heard only once before. But where? It was stilted; awkward in pronunciation and varying in intonations unnatural to Elrian common.

"L-likewise," Aisha mumbled.

The woman chuckled, "Then I suppose we should both get back to our workstations, yes?"

There it was again. She definitely had a strange way of speaking.

Although Aisha wanted to think on the situation more, a more pressing matter crossed her mind. If it was only authorized personnel… why wasn't this person at the meeting Adrian was holding? And furthermore, what were they doing in Eve's workshop?

Aisha noted the way the woman tried to nonchalantly conceal the handheld before making for the exit.

Something wasn't right. This woman wasn't supposed to be here. Granted, Aisha wasn't supposed to be here, either, but they had no business rummaging through Eve's personal workshop when her friend wasn't around.

Aisha blocked the woman's path, putting herself between the woman and the doorway leading out to the west wing hall.

"Who are you?" Aisha asked.

The woman cocked a brow at her, clearly not intimidated by the purplette.

"I am simple worker of this place. I am… an assistant, understand?" the woman said in a noticeably threatening tone that, coupled with the definite glowing red eyes, caused the hair on the back of Aisha's neck to stand on end. The woman leaned closer. "Move," she demanded, "please."

In that moment, Aisha found herself once more inside the overturned armored truck. The door leading to the front of the truck was kicked down and all she could see was the top of a head with flowing white locks.

Aisha was pulled back into reality as she took a wary step back. It was her. It was the same woman that caused the accident! She was the one that hurt Eve!

Aisha couldn't let her leave. She had to subdue her here and now.

The purplette summoned all her available strength, feeling the trickle of what was left of her energy reserves pool to the ring in her hand.

Time began to slow around her as her staff materialized. She gripped the metal rod with both hands, bringing it over her head for a swift, downward strike.

The woman reacted. Fox-like ears perked up from her white hair just as Aisha attacked.

To Aisha's bewilderment, despite her moving faster than humanly possible, the woman was ready and had already entered a defensive stance. The flowing white hair around the woman billowed outwards and, for a brief moment, it almost looked like they were tails. The rod came down, striking the woman's arm at an angle.

The brief contact with the rod pulled the woman into Aisha's time warp effect. In a blinding pace that Aisha could barely keep up with, the woman wrapped her arm around the staff, twisting it and forcing Aisha away from her weapon in one swift movement that ended with the white-haired woman burying her elbow into Aisha's gut. The wind was knocked out of her, forcing Aisha to let go of her weapon and stumble backwards, sending the assailant back into real time.

Yet, even while under the influence of the time warp, the assailant's movements were still too quick for Aisha to react. Aisha caught her balance just in time to meet the roundhouse kick square in the chest.

The time warp spell was cut off, and Aisha was sent flying back through the doorway and against the window across the hallway. The window shattered, setting off an alarm as her body fell limp amidst broken glass on the cold marble floor.

The woman approached the downed intern. Aisha's head was still spinning as she tried to get a bearing on the situation. This woman was quick. Unnaturally so. Even under the time warp spell, this person was able to keep up and come out on top.

Aisha looked up at her adversary. The flowing hair swished from side to side… like tails. Were they really tails?

"I did not expect that," the woman said, brushing her white bangs away from her face, "But you are sloppy. Very sloppy. Learn to fight next time."

"What are you doing in Eve's lab?" Aisha gasped, struggling for breath.

"That's none of your business, little intern," the woman said.

"If you're trying to hurt my friend… it IS my business."

"Oh…?" the assailant dropped the staff in front of Aisha "And if I were? What would you hope to accomplish? Your fighting form is poor. You are standing no chance against me, and I am without a weapon."

Aisha grunted, feeling the sting of the truth as her adversary continued to berate her. She was right, though. Aisha knew next to nothing about fighting. Being able to slow down time was a huge advantage on her part, but if she was without that ability, she would be left defenseless.

The woman knelt down and took Aisha by the chin. Purple eyes glared up at the woman's red glowing woman stared back, taking in the young intern's features. "We have met before, yes? Where did I see your face…?"

It was then that Aisha noticed the woman had fox-like ears at the top of her head. "Who… what are you?" Aisha groaned as consciousness slowly left her.

Voices were heard approaching from the grandhall, catching both of their attentions. A smile appeared on the woman's lips. She let go of Aisha's chin, letting her head fall limp as the woman rose to her feet.

"Some call me 'Harbinger'. Your people know me as 'White Fox'. But for you… you may call me Eun."

Eun.

Aisha clung on to that name all the strength in her body left her. Her eyes shut, and her body slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"And that's all you remember?" Elkashu asked. He knelt in front of Aisha as she sat on the back of the ambulance.

Aisha nodded, as a medic android scanned the young woman's body. "It was a woman with long white hair. She called herself 'Eun'. She was sneaking around in Eve's workshop, so I tried to stop her."

"That wasn't smart," Elsword said. He was hovering over his father's shoulder. "You could've been k- you should've called for help."

"I panicked… okay?" Aisha muttered. She slouched forward, "I thought that they were going to hurt Eve, and I wanted to protect her so-"

"So you threw yourself at her hoping to take her down?"

"Yes…" She could see that Elsword was very upset with her. There was a mix of anger and fear in his eyes that she honestly couldn't blame him for feeling.

"Aisha… you don't know the first thing about self defense-"

"I know," Aisha blurted out, "I know. I just… didn't want them near my friend."

Elsword held her gaze for a long moment before breaking it, shaking his head with a heavy sigh. "At least you're okay."

"More importantly," Elkashu interjected, "What were you doing in the upper floors?"

"I-" she trailed off, remembering that she wasn't even allowed up there in the first place.

"I was bringing coffee up for Adrian… and I wanted to see Eve before I left."

"You realize that area is off-limits?"

"I do… and I'm probably going to lose my internship at this rate," Aisha muttered, "And who knows what else. I'm probably going to get arrested for trespassing or something…"

"Dad," Elsword interjected, getting the attention of his father who looked up at his son. Not a single word was exchanged between them, and as far as Aisha could tell, her boyfriend simply motioned his head towards Aisha at his father and shrugged his shoulders. Elkashu dropped his head with a heavy sigh before turning his attention back to Aisha.

"So, let me get this straight," Elkashu stood, reading over his notepad, "You were tasked with bringing a cup of coffee to Adrian. He was in a meeting, so you dropped it off at the appropriate area."

"Yes."

"And on your way out, you noticed someone sneaking around in the floor above."

"Yes…"

"So… in an attempt to warn them not to go there, you decided to catch up with them, discovered they were up to no good, and decided to try and fight them yourself in order to protect Eve."

"Well, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad," Aisha chuckled. Realizing what Elsword's father was doing, she looked up at him, noticing a kind smile crossing his face. The lieutenant glanced at his son who gave him an approving nod.

"I'll see if I can spin the report in your favor," he said.

* * *

Elsword's red hover car exited Tower Nine's dome through one of the many skyways that connected Elysion's towers to one another. Neither Aisha nor her boyfriend said anything to each other since they left. He wanted to say something, though. Aisha could feel it.

The projected clear night sky that hung overhead disappeared as the transport tubes revealed that the world outside was heavy with rainfall. Aisha stared out of the car window, noting the lightning storm that hung over Tower One far in the distance. There was nothing below them except a dense sea of dark clouds.

"You shouldn't have done that, you know," Elsword finally said as he overtook a large transport bus.

"I know. It was stupid of me," Aisha replied.

"You could've been hurt. Or worse!"

"I _know_, Elsword. I get it. It was a dumb decision, and I'm sorry. I just… felt like I had to do something."

"You don't even know the first thing about self-defense. How could you ever hope to stand up to anyone like that?"

"I was _panicking_! I didn't know what to do!"

"So you fought her?!"

They both fell silent once more… save for one audible huff from Elsword.

She knew what this meant. He was beyond pissed. But could she blame him? He knew nothing of the power she had. If she could just somehow hone her fighting ability, then she wouldn't have him worrying about her all the time.

They were quickly approaching Tower 6, and Elsword didn't seem like he wanted to speak with her for the rest of the night. She should've expected that much.

"Aisha?"

"Yeah?" Aisha's voice cracked, and she turned to face out the window to hide the fact that she was crying.

"Listen… I'm sorry."

"No… no. Don't be. You're right. It was super stupid of me, and I shouldn't have-"

"You've been going through hell these past few days. I'm just scared," Elsword said, prompting Aisha to look over at her boyfriend just as he brought the car to a stop in front of her grandpa's restaurant, "I've seen a lot of people beat up or worse in my line of work. And with what's been happening with you? Every single time I've gotten a call with you involved, I'd fear the worst. And that was just this week. It's not you that I'm angry with. I'm angry at myself because I wasn't there to protect you. I mean… it's why I joined the police force to begin with. But what does it all mean when I can't even keep you from harm?"

"Els…" Aisha threw her arms around him, squeezing him in a tight embrace and giving him a big, tearful kiss on the cheek, "I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Just promise me you'll take better care of yourself, alright?"

"I'll do my best to keep myself out of trouble," she said, kissing him on the lips before stepping out of his car.

"Promise?" Elsword said, looking up at her as she stood on the sidewalk.

Aisha nodded, "Promise."

* * *

"So what exactly are you looking to focus on?" the blonde-haired woman said as she guided Aisha past the numerous training equipment and striking dummies to the back of the dojo. She had always known this dojo to be near her grandpa's restaurant, so she took it upon herself to stop by once Elsword was out of sight.

She promised him that she'd stay out of trouble, but she wasn't sure if learning how to defend herself was something he'd approve of outright.

"Erm… focus on?" Aisha asked.

"Typically people come to my dojo with a particular goal in mind. Whether it's just for physical fitness or for self defense, I want to make a note of all of my students so I'll know where to have you start."

"I don't know where to start…"

The woman turned around, her green eyes sizing up the purplette with a critical eye. Two pointed ears poked out from under her golden-green locks. Her eyes focused on them, and the woman blinked before quickly fixing the braids to her hair, tucking the ears under them and well out of sight.

"You're an elf?" Aisha asked, somewhat astonished by the discovery.

"Yeah? What of it? An elf has got to make a living somehow."

"Oh. Sorry, it's just-it's the first time I've ever seen one."

"We're a lot more common than you humans think," the elf said with a wink, "We're not usually the type to sit out in the open for you humans to gawp at."

Elves in Elysion were rare. Little was known about the ancient race except that they were considered vagabonds after the surface world was lost centuries ago. They were thought to primarily exist in the shadows of the slums in Towers 1 and 2. To see a living, breathing elf in the city, let alone living well within the middle-class district of Tower 6, was an extraordinary case.

"Regardless!" the elf continued, "you were telling me what you wanted to focus on?"

"Oh… right, uh…"

Aisha looked around, noting the open space sectioned off by a ring of white tape designated as the sparring ring at the center of the training room. Racks of wooden practice weapons lined the edge of the ring,

"Rena, was it?" Aisha asked.

"Mhm?" the trainer leaned forward, an eager grin across her face that caused Aisha to lean back and away from her.

"Um… I wanted to learn how to use a staff."

Rena cocked a brow. "For self-defense?"

"Yes. I want to know how to take people down with them."

"That's an oddly specific request. Wouldn't you want to learn hand-to-hand first?"

"Is that really necessary?" Aisha groaned, though it only seemed to reinforce the elf's stance on the matter.

The elf turned to a weapon rack. She picked up a wooden staff and tossed it over to Aisha who fumbled to catch it just as the elf backed into the sparring ring. Rena entered a fighting stance armed with nothing but her fists.

"Come," she beckoned, "Show me what you got."

"Rena… now?"

"That's master!" the elf said, her tone growing more strict as she moved towards the center of the ring. "Come at me!"

Aisha looked at the wooden staff and sighed. She set her bag down, took off her lab coat, and kicked off her heels.

Aisha held the staff like she would a sword, pointing it at Rena who looked on with a confident grin. The thought of using her ring crossed her mind, but with the power drained from her run-in with Eun earlier that evening… she probably didn't have enough energy to even cast the spell. She had to take her head-on.

Aisha charged, staff raised for a downward strike.

Rena didn't move from her spot. And, as Aisha brought the weapon down on her, the elf quickly ducked low, catching Aisha with a leg sweep that knocked her off her feet. Still in midair, the elf snatched the staff from her loosened grip, spinning with a flair just as Aisha hit the ground.

The wind was knocked out of her again. She tried to stand up but immediately found herself staring up at the staff just stopping inches from her face.

"You had a weapon… and now you don't. What do you do in this situation?" Rena asked, a look of intense focus in her eyes.

Aisha was quick to surrender, raising her hands in defeat as she moved to a sitting position.

"Okay… okay, I get it. My focus will be on hand-to-hand, then," the purplette grunted.

The elf lowered the weapon, extending a hand to help her up. "Everyone has gotta start somewhere. Once you've mastered the basics we'll move up to weapons training."

"And when will we start training?"

An excited gleam appeared on the elf's face, "So you're signing up with me, then?"

Aisha dusted and straightened out her work skirt. She looked around once more. As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to need this training if she wanted to keep people like Eun at bay.

"Teach me everything you know."


	5. Chapter 5: The Elven Master

**A/N: Hello everyone! Yes, I'm still alive. Holiday season kept me busy and all. Had a bunch of other projects to work on and such. BUT I have a special treat for you. This chapter wasn't written by me.**

**Nope. This was written by Aevari! She wrote this for me as a secret santa gift. So a huge thank you to Aevari for the effort in writing this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ha!"

Aisha's breath rasped as she brought forward her left fist in a lazy excuse for a strike, fortunately for her, Rena had agreed to start the girl's training the morning after she had officially signed up at the dojo.

An hour had passed by on day one of training, and for what it was worth the girl was spent. Sweat coated her body, her face was red and her breaths grew more coarse each time she went through the simple routine of 20 punches and 3 reps.

Her dawn training session had consisted of learning the correct way to carry herself, taking on a fighting stance with the final part of her session: perfecting the perfect punch.

"Aisha, come on! This is the third time I've told you – remember, when you perform a punch, your body needs to follow through with your fist, lean your striking side forward, it's not done with just the fist, but your entire body! twist on your toes, move that tiny waist to bring more power into it, Come on, you're getting slack, your punches aren't even considered punches at this point! Punch with your body!"

Rena slowly paced along the dojo floor ahead of Aisha, and not once did the Master avert her gaze from her newest student. Rena saw improvements here and there, but with each small improvement, the elf noticed weaknesses left unchecked and was sure to point them out to her student.

Aisha grimaced, she felt so exhausted, and struggled to keep up with the punches, each strike felt heavier than the last, was this what it felt like to be in an actual fight? She was only punching air, would she feel this exhausted while locked in combat with another person? Would it be this hard when she encountered the mysterious Eun again?

Even thinking briefly about the mysterious fox seemed to distract her as her form became even sloppier than before. Eun wasn't a weakling, surely if Eun had wanted to that day she could've really hurt the witch, and acknowledging just how weak she was in the grand scale of things stung. If she couldn't fend off some fox, could she ever protect or save those she cared about?

"Concentrate! Don't let your thoughts wander to anything other than training! Redo the set again!"

Aisha let out a yell for each new punch, her arms felt like they were burning from the pain, but if she stopped short, Rena would have her do the set again, no matter if she was doing the strikes correctly.

"Learning. To. Punch. Is. Hard!" the purple student gasped as she gave her final punch in the last set, only to quickly let her arm drop to her side in utter exhaustion, and although her body hurt like hell, deep down she felt… good, like getting an A on an exam, but much more physical.

"Of course it's hard," Rena nodded in total agreement. "So is kicking, dodging, parrying, countering, throwing and all that fun stuff... But, these are your first steps... It's obvious that you've never trained a day in your life." Rena stopped in front of Aisha with her arms crossed, "As you are now, you are outrageously weak, after your fourth punch the speed and power of your strikes reduced so much it's like your arms turn to cooked pasta! But, when you feel like your turning into a pile of spaghetti, you need to remind yourself of why you are here. Find that inner strength and push forward so that if the time ever comes where you have to defend yourself, you can stand your ground without worry. Find that reason; hold onto it."

The blonde smiled watching as Aisha placed her tired arms on her hips to catch her breath.

"No lady in my care will be left weak and defenseless, just you wait, put in the hard work and you'll be kicking the ass of any creeper that tries to make a move on you."

"R-right!" The student agreed, of course Rena didn't know of Aisha's background. She didn't know that instead of having creepers make moves on her, Aisha actively sought out the lowest ranking scum in District 3 to test and push the limits of her powers. When she thought of it like that, it sounded like she was just looking for fights.

_Let's not get into that line of thinking right now…_ Aisha thought to herself as her attention was set back on Master Rena.

"Now that the pep-talk's over and done with," Rena gave Aisha a pat on the back. "I'd like to declare your first training session complete. Not a bad start, _a lot_ of things you need to improve on, but we will get there."

Aisha smiled, "Thank you, Master."

"Here. I have something to give you." The green eyed elf reached into her pocket and pulled out a small white lily of sorts and handed it to Aisha. "Here you go. This is my dojo's emblem," Rena raised her right wrist, showing Aisha her own lily which was attached to a thin rope bracelet. "You can wear it wherever, or choose not to wear it at all, but do look after it."

Aisha cupped the tiny charm sized flower ornament and ran her fingers over the petals, it was cute.

"It means you're an official member of my dojo, and part of the family." Rena chimed in.

"Oh, thank you." Aisha smiled up at the elf, it was odd that Rena declared her part of her family so suddenly, but the girl couldn't deny the feeling incredibly grateful.

"Say, how about we grab some breakfast together?"

"Sure, I have a bit of time before I have class, but it'll have to be quick!"

Rena nodded, leading her student towards the dojo's exit, "Promise it'll be as quick as me doing a Sharp Fall on some creeps head! Elf's honor. Now, tell me a bit about yourself."

* * *

She was back in Adrian's private quarters. Eun was standing before her, looking strangely more animalistic than before with the addition of fangs and long claws. Eve lay unconscious at the Fox's feet, her weapon poised to strike the silver haired beauty.

Aisha tried to call out to Eve, but her voice would not come, dread overcame her body, she was no match for Eun, that was clear but Eve was about to die!

_Move body, move!_ She urged herself to act, outstretching her hand she tried to summon her staff to no avail. Why, why wasn't it appearing!? Aisha bit her bottom lip, without her staff she was useless… but if she didn't act now, Eve would die.

Eun smirked, stabbing her spear into the ground, the sharp tip barely missing Eve's head as she then ran to meet Aisha head on, her teeth were bared, in the form of sharp fangs. Eun swung her clawed hand at Aisha's throat as the witch nimbly dodged it by leaning to the side.

Aisha brought her arm up as Eun swung her claws, slapping away Eun by the wrist she proceeded to counter attack with a strike to Eun's stomach. Her punch hit, as the Fox staggered back momentarily to catch herself, before diving back at Aisha with a kick to the face. Unable to dodge it in time, Aisha took the brunt force of the strike as Eun's toned leg slammed into the side of her face hard, dropping her to the ground with an audible thud.

Before the witch could get back on her feet however, Eun leapt over the purple haired girl and began to beat her black and blue, Aisha tried her best to block but Eun was much more powerful, and savage.

Laying battered and beaten on the ground, a bloody face Aisha kept her blurred gaze on the unmoving Eve until the barrage of attacks stopped.

"Weak." Eun hissed, having moved away from the witch and now over Eve. "You're much too weak. Give me the ring."

"I-I can't…" Aisha spoke as blood trickled down her lips.

"If you don't then I'll just end your friend right here and now! Give me the ring!"

Aisha blinked back bloody tears as she very slowly sat up on her knees. "…I can't…"

"Fine then." Raising her clawed hand Eun went to make the killing strike on Eve.

"No!" Aisha screamed, desperation clear in her voice as suddenly her staff finally manifested in her hand, with the last of her strength, Aisha slowed down time enough for her to crawl over to Eun. "Don't… don't touch her!" She cried, and with a labored thrust, she slammed the staff as hard as she could onto Eun's side.

As the staff connected, the time slow ceased, the cracking of ribs echoed through Aisha's eardrums as she watched Eun fly back by the force of her magical strike and slam into a wall, unconscious. The wall crumbled from the foxes impact and collapsed right on top of her with a loud bang, smoke enveloped the area, the debris encased Eun in a heavy tomb.

On her knees she sat, her purple hues gazed down on her staff, it held such power, it defeated Eun where she couldn't. The staff clearly compensated for her lack of skill. "I d-did it."

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP

Awaking with a start Aisha's hand stretched outward, fumbling on top of her bedside cupboard as she felt around for her alarm clock. After a few seconds of searching, the girl felt the familiar circular object and pressed the button, silencing the beeping.

"What _was_ that dream…" Aisha brought her hand up to rest on her head as she tried to recall the dream that was already starting to fade from sleepy memory. The girl felt a feeling of dread overcome her body as she lay there, the battle felt so real. Gazing at the mysterious ring, Aisha gave a deep sigh, allowing herself time to calm, yet once the feeling of fear left her, Aisha allowed her thoughts to focus on the dream battle, she had felt such strength when wielding the staff, it felt… good.

"I need to get stronger, I just have to…"

After a moment of reprieve, Aisha turned her sleepy head and looked at the time on her clock. 4:30am, time to get up. She'd only been asleep for two hours, which was swiftly becoming her normal sleep schedule. In 30 minutes she'd have to meet up with Rena at the dojo for a morning session.

Aisha got up with a sigh, her body felt heavy, much heavier than before, likely because of the intense training that Rena had started giving her.

Usually, Aisha would enjoy a few more hours of sleep since she didn't have college this morning, but with her new found determination to learn to fight, she'd have to slot in training whenever she possibly could, between her classes, internship and training, she was thankful that Rena was flexible with times.

"I better get some caffeine into me and stat. I don't want to keep Rena waiting."

* * *

Day 4 of Martial arts training was similar to the last 3, however this time around Aisha, having already adequately learnt the proper basic punching and kicking actions was now learning the marvelous and fun world of countering and flipping and was also actively sparring with Rena, much to her Master's excitement.

"Ok, you've got me in the hold now, good, now, take me down – I'm just a regular person, _no_ martial art's training at all. Take me out, do it!" Rena was somewhat hunched before her student as Aisha held onto Rena, wincing as her Master yelled in her ear the girl moved her leg swiftly to sweep Rena's own, sending the blonde haired elf to her feet.

"Hey, not bad." Rena laid on her side, and smiled up at Aisha. "I hope you feel proud of yourself for bringing me down."

Aisha brought a hand up to wipe her sweaty brow and gave a smirk of accomplishment, her face was pale, dark rings circled the under the lower halves of her eyes, she looked exhausted but happy. "I am, it's not every day I get to do that, it feels pretty good." The purplette outstretched a hand to Rena to help her up.

"Good…. Good…" Rena nodded and went to take Aisha's hand, however as she made contact with her student, Rena gripped her tightly and suddenly pulled the girl down off of her own feet. "Never let your guard down and relax your stance!"

Aisha fell to the floor with a thud, her face met the cushioned mat floor hard and squealed in moderate pain. "Ow! – Why'd you" Before Aisha had time to finish, Rena was already resting over Aisha's back, harshly pulling her arms back in a hold to pin the girl down.

"And now, I can do whatever I want with you!" Rena leaned down towards Aisha's left ear. "You failed. Honestly, if I were an assailant you'd be toast right now. I'm genuinely disappointed in you, you _know_ better by now, I've drilled it into your head every minute of training, why can't you get that?"

Aisha's eyes brimmed with tears, the hold was hurting her. "Master let go." She asked in a whisper, irritation taking form in her voice.

"No, you don't get to ask me to release you. Aisha." Rena frowned, she was not yelling anymore but the sternness of Rena's voice told Aisha that Rena was disappointed. "If you want to make up for your blunder, tell me, how can you get out of this situation?"

The student winced, trying her best to wiggle free but to no avail, she could move her hips and legs a bit, Rena had her pinned there in a vice like grip. Aisha tried to think, her mind went blank, it hurt too much.

"Come on Aisha, times a'ticking, a baddie isn't just going to hold you here forever, unless of course they want to go about some evil monologue or something."

The staff. Aisha thought, in a situation like this, she'd ideally already be in magical girl form and could easily have slowed down time to avoid this whole situation. "I-if I had a weapon, it'd be different! Just give me a weapon and I'll show you!" Aisha spat, she was hurting, and feeling trapped her tone rose showing a hint of anger and a whole lot of frustration.

"Weapons again…" Rena sighed. "Every day you ask about them, and every day I say no. They aren't the answer to everything. This is our first little spar, instead of thinking about beating me with a stick, use that big brain of yours to figure a way out."

It was true though; Aisha thought to herself, her staff would have turned the tides of this situation. Her hands were balled into fists, the ringed fist clenched more tightly that the left.

_Think, Aisha Think. What can I do…_ She thought to herself.

She needed to push her reliance on her powers to the side for now, this was clear as she definitely couldn't transform in front of Rena just to break through from a hold. What's more, the disappointment in Rena's voice told Aisha that there was some way out of this, something she'd already know from their training, but what?" The student took a breath to calm herself, _I can't throw a punch… maybe a kick!_ Her legs were free enough to move!

Aisha suddenly brought her right leg up, bending the knee so that her heel struck Rena in the back. Master Rena didn't budge as Aisha began kicking her repeatedly. "Ok, that hurts, but I'm still poised strongly here." Rena, unbeknownst to Aisha was grinning, it seemed her student was finally getting on the right track.

"Gah!" Aisha tried her best to land a strong kick to Rena's back, but as it connected, still Rena didn't move, she had superb balance.

_That's right! Balance!_ Aisha gasped, if she just surprised Rena, and shook her balance and center off, she could maybe maneuver out of the hold.

_Let's see… Rena has my hands tied, she's kneeling over me, I can move my legs, it's only the upper body that's pinned. I'm like a worm right now… That's it! A worm!_

Aisha let out a yell, and suddenly moved her legs, getting onto her knees, she pushed her hips upwards hard, moving Rena forward slightly. "Oh- Hey!" Rena gave a look of surprise, and in that surprise, Aisha used that opportunity to harshly slam her side against Rena's inner thigh and caused the pair to fall onto their sides.

"Get. Off!" Aisha yelled, and slammed her head back hitting Rena's with a thud as the Master released the student.

"Ow my face!" Rena cried out, giving it a rub as she painfully watched her student shakily get to her feet. "Not bad." Rena stood up, and complimented her student. "And you got free without a weapon. I'm proud of you, I was beginning to think you weren't paying attention to my instructions."

"I-I do…I'm just not used to … well…_this_." Aisha rubbed the back of her head, an egg already starting to form on it. "I'm… also sorry for snapping at you earlier."

"It's fine, I expected you to react that way. Most people do when they're beginners." Rena left the room momentarily, coming back with cold packs and some towels. "Here, towel to clean your sweat, cold pack for the egg."

"Look, Aisha, I don't know why you are so adamant about using a weapon, but you know I won't let you use one until you're ready."

Aisha accepted the items, and purposely turned her head away from Rena as she spoke.

"Your wrists are probably really hurting right, now, right?" Rena pointed out. "You bruise easily too." The Master pointed out the few bruises that starting showing on her arms from the past few days. "Some of them aren't from here either I don't think." Crossing her arms, Rena's green gaze was deadly perceptive.

"I don't know if you're being hurt outside of here or not… but even so, I will not let you use a weapon until I think you are ready. Weapons are dangerous, they can kill." Holding a cold pack to her forehead Rena watched Aisha's shoulders shrink forward and observed her body stiffen at her words.

"Look at me Aisha."

Aisha bit her bottom lip, what Rena was saying struck a chord with the girl, she recalled her run in at the convenience store in the past, her staff had done much more damage to the criminal at the time that she was expecting. _Let's not forget how Eun turned out in my dream… _ Aisha thought to herself before shaking her head. Rena was right, she couldn't control her power despite the fact that she relied upon it so heavily.

Aisha turned to look up at Master Rena. "Whatever your circumstances are, breathe easy, chick." The elf rest her free hand on Aisha's shoulder. "I'm going to continue to train you, so that you can defend yourself without a weapon, and so that if you do need to use one, you won't do something you'll regret. Believe in me, I won't let you down."

* * *

Making her way back into Kuenbaran's Restaurant after college and her internship, Aisha hoped to use the next 2 hours or so to get a bit of rest in before she went out to look for action on District 3's streets.

"Ah, Welcome home Aisha." Kuenbaran inclined his head into a nod as he greeted his granddaughter from the bar, he was slowly plating up an order for a customer.

"Hi Grandpa, I'm home." Aisha tried her best to sound happy, but in truth she was anything but. She was tired, very tired. Her arms hurt from this morning's training with Rena, her head hurt from the training as well, and she had a slight headache after getting back from the internship. It had been a long day, and her new lifestyle was catching up with her and her body was suffering because of it.

Aisha moved behind the counter and kissed Kuenbaran's forehead softly, her lips were dry and coarse, was she keeping her fluids up enough?

"Are you alright?" The elderly man paused what he was doing as he gave his granddaughter a good look over. He had noticed a while ago that she may have been putting too much on her plate, but today she looked ready todrop dead before him. "You look so tired Aisha, I think I'll –"

Aisha winced as Kuenbaran went to hold her by the hand. "What's wrong? You've hurt yourself?" Concerned, he looked down at her hands and immediately noticed the bruises on not only her wrist, but along her arms as well. "What is… this? Aisha, what has happened, you must tell me now. We will go to the Police and get Elsword to-"

"I'm fine Grandpa, really!" Aisha shook her head and put a hand on his arm. "I've been taking self-defence training, the marks are from that. My teacher is strong and tough, but I'm learning." The girl tried her best to reassure Kuenbaran with a steadfast gaze, and it was then that the old man noticed the nice little bump on her head. "An egg?"

"I head butted my teacher a little too hard… Honest."

"Aisha, while I agree that having self-defence lessons is a good thing, I do think that this is a bit too much. I never thought such a class would be so… intense. To top it off, you already have School and your internship to focus on my girl."

"Grandpa, I'm fine. Master Rena is a great teacher."

"Oh, Ms. Rena." The old man recognized Aisha's teacher's name. "I know her, not as well as some as but more so than a stranger. She comes here occasionally. In fact, she was the hero who dealt with that thief back last Christmas, remember?"

"I remember Grandpa, It was one of the reasons I went to her for lessons."

Kuenbaran gave a slow nod. It seems that the old man had accepted her teacher, even if she may be getting a bit to physical with his granddaughter. "I see, well it's very good she's agreed to train you, although I might have a word with her about being less rough with you... If your father saw these marks-"

"Let's not talk about dad tonight, please grandpa." Aisha pleaded, giving the old man's arm a slight squeeze.

"Well, alright then." Defeated, Kuenbaran dropped the topic and instead went about finishing up the meal placement. "Aisha, Please take this to that young lady over there, she's a new regular here, I haven't gotten her name yet, but I will soon." His voice sounded quite happy at the notion of gaining another loyal customer. "After you've done that, you can settle in for the night. In addition, before you offer, don't worry about the restaurant, I can manage without you. I think you really need a good night's sleep."

Grabbing the plate, Aisha nodded. "I think I need one too Grandpa" _Although, I think I would need more than just one full night of rest at this point. Maybe a week._ She thought to herself, knowing that she would not be sleeping much at all tonight, she had to do some field testing after all.

"Here you go Miss. One Special and an orange juice." Aisha set the food and drink down on the counter in front of the lady.

The young lady in question had long black hair with grey streaks running through it and a large bow poised on her head. She didn't look up at Aisha but nodded her head stiffly in response. "Thanking…you. I hope… injury get… well soon."

"Thank you, I'll be fine." Aisha smiled, yet something clicked in the cogs of her mind, the lady looked awfully familiar… and her voice, although clearly not well versed in the common tongue she'd heard it before somewhere. "Say, have we met somewhere before? I feel like I know you."

Hearing Aisha ask this, the girl stiffened her posture and looked down at her food for a moment before she dug into it, refusing to say anything else to Aisha.

"Well." Aisha gave a slight shrug. "It was nice meeting you either way; I hope you enjoy the meal!"

* * *

"Get this thing off me!" A criminal yelled in the back alley somewhere deep within District 3's underbelly. Aisha had ignored her grandpa's advice about getting some much needed sleep, and instead snuck out to test not only her new powers, but her skills as a fighter, and what better place to do it than in her 'stomping ground'?

"I'll get it off of you once you tell me where your buddy has run off to. You know, the one who was helping you sell drugs and bailed on you the moment I took you down."

Aisha was standing in front of the man who was pinned to the ground, thanks to some quick footwork, her magic and an empty dumpster she had the man stuck under the dumpster's side, with a few bricks on either side of him to stop the large trash crate from crushing him. He wasn't crushed, but he was stuck.

The man wrinkled his nose as a dirty diaper had fallen just below his chin. "Please, I'll tell you! He's the main guy, I'm just a tag along."

The witch's staff rested on her shoulder as she nodded. "I need an address, I promise, I'll let you go." _For the Police to handle_.

"Ok, Jason's gone to our meet up place, behind Divine Ladies."

"The stripper place?" Aisha gave a most unimpressed frown.

"Yeah, that's the one. Red painted roof. And I've heard from a reliable source that those ladies like to be referred to as professional dancers or entertainers… Stripper is such a vulgar word. Now please let me go."

Aisha nodded. "Alright, one second, I'll call you a ride." The witch leant down and grabbed the guys phone from his top pockets, being careful to not remove any of the drugs that littered the ground around him and which were most likely also in his pockets. "What's your unlock code? Don't worry, I'll only call the police."

At that moment, Aisha spotted a shadow appear on the dumpster's side, it held something long. Quickly she dove to the side, dodging the downward swing of a crowbar that was aimed right at her head.

"Haha, Jason old pal, finish miss pink up and get me out of here and I'll give you your fix for free tonight man!" The trapped drug dealer announced to Jason, who was in fact, not a drug dealer but a drug user from the sounds of it.

"Stay still lady, you've got some nerve trying to stop my supply, I need these things to live a fuckin' normal life you hear me?!" Jason proclaimed as he raced towards Aisha.

_Not good, he's got a weapon_. Aisha got to her feet and readied herself, although her training had progressed quite well, she had not yet been given the ok to use a weapon to fight by Rena. Gritting her teeth, Aisha leapt back as Jason took another swing at her.

"Jason, put the weapon down, you're not a criminal, yet."

"Shut up, you don't know me and what I've done little girl." Jason dove at her again with another swing, and another as he forced Aisha back further down the alley.

_I need to get that weapon off of him._

At the next swing came at her, Aisha quickly side stepped, spinning on her heels and driving her body into a turn she dodged a lethal downwards swing. This was her chance. As the crowbar swung to its climax, Aisha quickly brought a palm forward, moving her body like she was going to perform the perfect punch, she pushed Jason's arm forcibly away, causing him to lose his balance. From there Aisha brought her staff up and gently touched the man with it to slow him down.

She yanked the crowbar out from his hands, causing the time to go back to a normal pace and there before Jason had time to recover, Aisha spun on her heel, raising a leg as she performed a roundhouse kick to the guys side, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.

Jason lay there, his arms hurt from where Aisha pulled the bar free, but it looked like he didn't have anything broken.

_I did it! I stopped a bad guy!_

"It's not nice to sneak up on a girl you know." Aisha pointed her staff down at the man, however a flash of red and blue at the end of the alley caught the witch by surprise. She ran off, barely missing the encounter with the cops.

_I can't believe I just did that, it just happened! Wow, Rena's training is really paying off._

The purplette looked down at her phone to check the time. "Ah! It's already 3am… not good, I have class early tomorrow…"

* * *

The subtle hum of Elsword's Hover car did little to stir the napping purple haired girl as her boyfriend drove her from home towards the University for her next class. As Aisha slumbered, Elsword's brows were furrowed and his lips set firm in a concerned frown as he let her nap, or at least for the moment as he reflected on their meetup just a few moments ago.

As soon as Elsword had picked Aisha up from Kuenbaran's he had noticed how exhausted she had looked, but said nothing on the matter, instead he had picked her up with a worried smile. Aisha had greeted him in the normal fashion, and smiled weakly at the young man.

"Thanks for giving me a ride to University Elsword, I really appreciate it." Aisha had told him, getting into the car, Aisha set her bag down onto the floor, and it was there that Elsword noticed the dark purple and black bruises peaking out from underneath her long sleeved purple shirt.

"Aisha, are you alright?" The red haired asked, concern visible in his voice.

"I'm a little tired," She admitted "and sore, but I'm ok."

"Hm.." Elsword waited until Aisha had buckled herself in before he left Kuenbaran's. "How's school and the internship going? I imagine it must take up a chunk of your time, huh."

Aisha had an elbow propped up on the door, her palm resting under her chin as she stifled a yawn. "Oh, it's very busy, I don't get much free time because of them, but I enjoy it." The girl looked over at him and gave him a sleepy smile. "You know how I like to keep busy, I'm making real progress on my studies, and I've been pulling a few all nighters to get this assignment done, but I'm feeling really good about it."

"That's great." The boy gave a half hearted smile, his red hues focused on the sky road ahead of them.

"As for the internship, it's really enlightening. I always seem to be learning something new, and I feel happy being there. I just…" Aisha trailed off for a moment. "I wish I could see Eve though."

Elsword sighed lightly, so she still hadn't been allowed to visit. The boy cleared his throat. "Try not to worry too much." He encouraged her. "I'm sure once she's feeling better, she'll ask to see you. And soon at that! After all, you two _are_ best friends."

"Mm." Aisha gave a quick nod, her purple eyes focused on the ground near her feet. "You're right Els."

The boy nodded, "Well, I might not be right about most things, but my gut feeling is telling me this. And, it's usually right… 75% of the time."

Aisha brought her free hand up to cover her mouth lightly as she giggled, he was also right about _that_. "Like that time you helped Grandpa at the restaurant and thought it'd be an amazing idea to put pineapple on top of a customer's dessert and it turned out that the guy was allergic to Pineapple!" Aisha was visibly laughing now. "Pineapple was never meant to go on that chocolate and strawberry crepe, but because the guy had helped you out you thought you'd do him a solid, and your gut told you that pineapple was the perfect thing to pay him back with."

"Hey- Pineapple is the best fruit known to man I'll have you know. It goes great on _anything_! He seemed like a guy with great taste, so I thought he must like them."

Aisha set a hand on Elsword's shoulder and was laughing even more now, for a moment the boy laughed along with her, however he stopped as he once more caught sight of the bruises on the girls arm.

"Ok, hey enough of that." He said lightly, the pep in his voice had left him. "Aisha… has someone hurt you?"

The sudden question caused Aisha to pull her hand back in surprise. "No? No! of course not!"

The boy brought the car down to the ground to park at a fuel station. His gut was telling him he was about to tread into some sensitive territory, and would rather have the discussion with his full attention set on Aisha.

"I haven't said anything, but, Kuenbaran told me last week that you seemed tired all the time. We both put it down to your studies and internship; I mean working at _that_ place would be like a dream for you so of course you'd give it 110% all the time." Elsword placed a hand over Aisha's as hers rested on her lap. "I've been busy with my own stuff so I haven't been around as much as I'd like to." He admitted.

"It's alright Els, I understand. I don't expect us to be able to be together every day." Aisha looked up at him, the reassuring look on Aisha's face caused him to squeeze her hand lightly.

"I get that too, but… can you tell me how you got those bruises?" His eyes fell on her arm.

"What bruises?" She asked, her sleeve covered them well enough she thought. The girl's shoulders stiffened, it was hard to lie to Elsword, but there was no way she could tell him the full truth. Downplaying the marks seemed to be in her best interest she thought.

"The bruises that are hidden under your sleeve. I saw them there, when you reached over."

The girl rolled up her sleeves. "Oh? These? Don't worry about them." She assured him. "It seems like grandpa didn't tell you." Aisha pulled her cell phone from out of her pocket, revealing the small lily ornament which had been made as a phone charm. "I'm a student at the White Lily Dojo, you know the one, it's not too far from grandpas."

"Wait – you're learning to fight?"

"Self-Defence classes." The girl corrected him. "I've been doing it for about a week and a half now. Grandpa already knows and he's fine with it." Aisha's fingers caressed the lily lightly. "This is the symbol of the dojo, showing I'm a fully-fledged member there. Rena, my trainer has been teaching me a lot. She's strict, but a really nice lady. Our sparring sessions do get a bit intense." Aisha chuckled lightly, trying her best to downplay the bruises. "But I've given her some bruises too. With her lessons I feel confident that I can defend myself against anything."

Elsword arched a brow. "Aisha, you don't need to do something like that." His voice was even, however somewhat dismissive. "I can, and will protect you. As your boyfriend but also as a police officer. It's my job. I don't like to see you getting injured for nothing."

"Els…" Aisha levelled with him, her smile was replaced by a serious line. "You can't protect me all the time, and that's a fact."

"Of course I can Aisha, don't think so little of me."

"I'm not!" The girl proclaimed, startled that he thought that. "I'm just saying, those incidents that happened in the past… Eve and my accident, the grocery store…. That Eun lady _at_ my workplace. You weren't there at all, and each time I was left either battered, bruised or scared out of my mind. I need to learn to protect myself, because clearly you can't protect me all the time. When you are with me, of course you can. But you won't always be by my side." Aisha was frowning, her tired eyes brimmed as she fought to hold back tears.

Elsword seemed to shrink back slightly, it was obvious to Aisha that her words had stung him. Elsword valued those age-old traditions of men protecting women and chivalry, but views like that were flawed, Aisha's past experiences were proof of that, and she needed him to understand that.

"Then I just need to work harder." Elsword replied.

"Elsword-"

"Let's get going, at this rate you'll be late for class." Aisha sighed, and looked away from him, she was hurt, why wouldn't he understand her? She needed the defence lessons to protect herself, not only during her day to day life, but also during her field testing. After the encounter with Eun, Aisha knew she needed this, more than she'd needed anything else in her life right now.

"Ok." Was all she said in reply, and a few minutes later the girl would drift off into a light slumber, trying to catch a few winks before class.

* * *

Whack!

Aisha recoiled; her face was forced back as she fell to the ground with an audible thud. Her purple eyes with covered by the glassy shine of fresh tears.

"_Agh!_ My face!" Laying on her back, Aisha immediately dropped her wooden practice staff and held her face with both of her hands as she writhed in pain.

"Hmph. That'll learn ya." Master Rena stood before her, twirling her own staff flawlessly in a display of mastery. "Instead of being hunched there like a zombie with 5 o'clock eyes, if you weren't so busy trying to fight away sleep, you would've seen my staff coming, Honestly… get up and go out into the back room and put pressure on that bloody nose of yours. We'll take a short break."

Some time had passed since Aisha had first joined the dojo, enough at least that Rena was finally comfortable with teaching Aisha to use a staff now. In fact, it was the second day since Aisha had started learning the ways of polearm combat.

Aisha returned a few moments later with tissues stuck up her nose and a bloodied towel resting over her shoulder. She moved slower than usual, with less pep in her step and more of a drag to it. The girl took a seat next to Rena on the floor and gave a long drawn out sigh.

"I've noticed that you've been coming to training more and more exhausted each time. It's progressively getting worse." Master Rena outstretched her hand, offering Aisha a drink of water. "I know I'm probably not the best teacher out there, and can be a little rough on students… but I wouldn't have thought I could be so bad that I'd be ruining your health."

Taking the water bottle appreciatively, Aisha shook her head. "You're a great Teacher, Master Rena."

Rena's green eyes observed her injured student silently. "I don't mean to bring my personal issues to the dojo… but." Aisha set the water bottle down after taking a swig of water. "Learning self-defence is actually turning into something I really enjoy, in fact… it's a source of positivity for me right now."

"Alright, so I'm not at fault. That's great, tell me what's really going on, then." Rena's green eyes observed her injured student silently.

"I'm actually pretty worried about my friend Eve and my internship."

"The girl who was in that accident with you, right?" Rena queried as Aisha gave her a nod of confirmation. After their first training session, the two girls had taken the time to get to know each other, and Aisha's internship and her best friend Eve were some of the things Rena had learnt about her student during that time.

"Yes that's right. Eve was the one who got me that internship. It feels wrong without her there." The student grabbed a cookie and continued. "There's something I haven't told you about the car accident that day, I… I believe it was staged."

"Staged?" Rena shoved the last bit of her cookie into her mouth before she leant back on her arms. "It was done on purpose?"

"Yes. After the crash, a number of people were at the scene. There was a woman, She wanted… _whatever_ was in that truck" Of course Aisha knew what was in it, Eve had entrusted it to her, but she couldn't tell Rena that it was a magical ring.

"They didn't try to help us, in fact… I'm sure if they had the chance, they may have well hurt us if they saw us." Aisha looked at her half eaten cookie. "They left before they could get anything but the accident was no accident. I'm sure it was done on purpose."

"How scary…" Rena mused. "I'm so sorry you two had to experience that."

"Thanks… I'm also worried about Eve. I know she was hurt pretty bad, and I haven't been able to visit her or check on her condition at all, it's like I've been shut out. I'm worried."

"Aisha. Maybe... maybe you should take some time off from training. I know you won't back down on studying and working but… our sessions are elective. I think it'd be good for you to take some time off to rest, and reflect. Busying yourself is fine and well but, being unable to deal with these feelings isn't good for you."

"And how can I deal with them if I can't talk to Eve, Master Rena." It was a rhetorical question on Aisha's part. "I'm fine, honestly. I won't stop my training, I may not be able to get some answers right now, but I know I can learn to fight so that if something like this every happens again... I'll be able to protect Eve, and everyone else." Aisha crumpled the cookie in her hand without realising.

Rena leaned over and gave Aisha a hug with one arm. "I understand." The elf squeezed Aisha hard enough she thought the tissues holding her nosebleed at bay would pop out from her nostrils. "I'll do my best to give you the tools to make sure you can do that. Take a few more minutes to recover and then we'll pack up for the day. Let's go to Kuenbaran's, my treat."

"Hehe, that sounds like a great idea."

* * *

The sounds of Police sirens echoed throughout the trash laden parking lot of The Divine Ladies Exotic Dance Club, cuffing three drug dealers, who swore they were attacked by some purple haired girl who knew karate, it was obvious by the bruises on their bodies, they had their asses handed to them by this mysterious vigilante.

Kneeling on the Red Roof of the club, Aisha watched the police apprehend the drug dealers, giving a slight smile she silently disappeared from view.

* * *

Two weeks later, Aisha had been sparring with Rena, by now she was quite efficient in hand to hand combat, although nowhere near a master. Her Master had noticed the improvements in Aisha, and although her student still looked exhausted as ever, she couldn't help but smile seeing her student improve.

"You're getting a lot better. Almost like you've been practising in your free time."

"What free time is that?" Aisha asked as she went to strike Rena, who then parried. "Hah, you should know by now Re-Master Rena, that any free time I have is spent studying or very rarely… sleeping!"

The two continued to move, their actions seeming more like a fluid dance than a rugged fight.

"Well, who's to say you don't train through meditation or in your dreams." Rena joked and swung her leg around in a low leg sweep, to which Aisha leapt over in a dodge.

_Breaking News. Crime is being swept up with the trash in District 3, with a number of Drug Cartels losing some of their distributors in the city thanks to the work of an unknown vigilante. Most Notably Crime Mongal, Thumbless Tom's business has taken the brunt of the mysterious clean up, we can expect some rumblings from him and his gang no doubt. Although Elysion Authorities have been unable to find any witnesses, alleged drug dealers have reported that the vigilante is in fact female, but with indistinguishable facial features, as each of the criminals in question have been unable to give an exact profile description. More to come..._

Hearing the news report on the radio, Aisha could not help but feel immensely happy, what had started out as field-testing her powers had resulted in her making a notable difference in the District 3. It felt good knowing she was helping people.

"Alright, great warm up Aisha. Grab a staff, I think it's time you moved onto the next level with your staff training."

* * *

Standing in the elevator at Altera Tech, her purple hues were focused on the screen above the floor buttons. Aisha watched the number increase with each second somewhat anxiously, she had been contacted by Oberon to meet him at Adrian's private quarters.

_I wonder why Oberon wants to meet me? _Aisha tapped her foot in the elevator as she was carried higher and higher up the seemingly endless skyscraper. _Perhaps Adrian finally wants to talk to me about the accident. If that is true I could tell him about the ring. I do have my notes on the field tests in my bag._

The elevator came to a gentle stop, the doors opened and Aisha was greeted by none other than the android butler himself.

"Good afternoon Miss Aisha, I'm grateful that you were able to make it here so quickly. Your punctuality is appreciated."

"Thank you Oberon, it's… good to be here." Aisha waved to him and offered the android her best smile. She liked Eve's butler, and she did appreciate the risk he took allowing her to attempt to meet with Adrian the last time she came here.

"Do I finally get to talk to Adrian? That would be great if I could Oberon. I could get a cup of coffee ready to help my chances." She joked.

"Unfortunately, Master Adrian is much too busy to meet with you Miss Aisha, and I regrettably inform you that it was not him who requested your presence." Oberon gave Aisha a slight bow.

The girl brought a hand to her chin and pondered for a moment, if she wasn't here to meet Adrian, then who? It couldn't be, could it? Was Elsword's words of encouragement the other day right on the mark?

"However, the good news is, it was Mistress Eve who asked to meet you."

"Eve did!? She's ok?!" Aisha could not contain her excitement as Oberon spoke, it had been some time since Aisha had seen Eve, in fact the last time she saw her was on Eve's birthday, hanging upside down in her wrecked car…

"Unfortunately I am not permitted to divulge any information regarding the young Mistress."

"Oh Eve…" Aisha brought her hand down to her chest and closed her eyes tightly to hold back tears of happiness. This was great, Eve was conscious. Finally, going so long without knowing what had happened to her best friend, she'd finally see her again. Withholding the urge to jump in excitement Aisha instead put her hands on Oberon's shoulders.

"Take me to her please, right now."

Aisha followed Oberon along the red and gold trimmed carpet, a visible bounce in each step she took, the usually tired and drained purplette seemed as energised as a brand new battery, it was as if all of her troubles had suddenly disappeared, all she could think about was Eve.

The familiar scent of pink and purple flowers encompassing the grand fountain helped calm her nerves a little, but not enough to remove the eagerness in her stride. Moving along the pair eventually made it past the hologrammed hall and through to Eve's personal quarters.

"Here we are miss." Oberon came to stand beside the slightly ajar bedroom door and gave Aisha a bow. "The Mistress is looking forward to seeing you again. Now if you'll excuse me. I'll take my leave until called."

Carefully, Aisha slowly pushed open the door and entered Eve's room. "Eve?" Aisha called out softly, a large curtain was drawn, shielding the bed from outside view. Receiving no answer, Aisha moved forward into the bedroom. She stepped over a series of wires which crawled along the floor like a snakes trail in the sand. Although this was Eve's bedroom, the room itself had many strange pieces of equipment set up. Each machine had its own bundles cords, It almost seemed like something straight out of a sci-fi novel.

"Eve?" Aisha spotted a silhouette moving behind the curtain as she got closer, but the state of the room left her feeling a little anxious, it felt cold, where was the usual warmth and light of the room.

_What is all this? Is it for you? Is it a project perhaps?_

Moving around the curtain, Aisha noticed that the room here is dark, with only a lamp providing soft light.

Aisha's eyes follow the numerous wires and cords, which eventually lead up and into the bed, where a familiar face sat.

"Hello Aisha."

"E-Eve!" Aisha gasped, a wave of relief came over her, expelling any uneasy feelings that she held. "Oh Eve, I'm so happy you contacted me! You're well... I'm relieved."

Eve shook her head and stayed silent for a moment. "Aisha, as good as it is to see you, please. You can see that I'm anything other than well."

Reaching to her side, Eve pressed a button on the remote as the lights in the room slowly turned on and increased their brightness. With the lights on, Aisha finally had a clear view of her best friend.

The silver haired beauty was sitting on her bed, wearing a light pink robe that was a little too big for her. Her slender hands sat on her lap, pale skin illuminated under the bright lights as a pair of cold, orange eyes held Aisha's gaze evenly. The wires ran up under her robes appearing to hinge onto her joints. She looked almost like a doll; a puppet, even. For the most part, she looked relatively normal, however Aisha blinked in confusion when she spotted two small familiar cones on either side of Eve's head were her ears would normally be. The cones were the same as Oberon's coned ears.

Aisha moved closer to the bed, looking over this person who looked like Eve, but at the same time did not - at least not to her. "E-Eve…. You're… you're an Android?" She gasped at the friend this machine claimed to be. She was ecstatic to see her friend alive… but heartbroken to see what had become of her. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she should say anything at all.

Despite the shock of the moment, a calm, serene smile appeared across the machine's lips. "No, Aisha. I am a Cyborg."


	6. Chapter 6: A New Threat

**On top of Altera Tech, a lone figure hidden by the shadows is writing something in a journal. It's a small notebook with a plastic binding that weaves in and out of the holes punched into the sides of the pages. She looks up from her scribbles to the bright lights of the city and softly grins like a mother watching her daughter grow. Finishing up her entry, the figure caps off her entry with her name: MiraiAkina.**

* * *

"Good morning, everyone. I am here with Mr. Helputt, CEO of Hamel Bionics, to ask him for his opinion on Elysion's security crisis. Thank you for giving us a portion of your time."

"It's no trouble at all. Ensuring the citizens' safety is my number one priority. That is why we at Hamel Bionics are pushing for a new type of security. One that-"

"Aisha, could you wipe down the tables?" Kuenbaran called from the front counter.

"Okay!" As Aisha fished for a clean towel from the neat stack next to the dishwasher, she caught a snippet of the interview being shown on the television next to the preparation table. Helputt had an intimidating stature: shoulders even, back straight, and expression stone-faced.

"And how would these super-soldiers be more effective in protecting the denizens of Elysion?"

"They would be better equipped to deal with external forces. Right now, most of the security measures deployed by Altera Inc. are better at keeping things out, but what happens when someone bypasses them? The people inside will be defenseless-"

"Aisha?"

"S-Sorry, coming right out!" She scurried out of the kitchen, stopping by the bar to pick up a spray bottle filled with water. Kuenbaran observed his granddaughter dutifully cleaning a table near the bar and noted how she moved her hand sluggishly. Her eyes drooped down for several seconds before snapping open forcefully.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?" he worryingly asked. Aisha shook her head and continued to scrub the table.

"I've been really busy with my internship and self-defense training. Sorry."

"No need to apologize to me, but it is important to get some rest. Otherwise, you won't have the energy to do the things that you need to do."

"I'll keep that in mind," Aisha half-heartedly mumbled back. "Can you turn on the news? I want to see if they're still interviewing Helputt Seiker."

"Oh, is that why you were taking so long in the back? Very well. Where did I put the remote?"

As her grandfather searched for the remote, Aisha finished up cleaning the tables. She then grabbed a broom and began to sweep the floor. As she reached for the dustpan, she heard the big television hanging over the bar turn on, and Mr. Seiker's deep voice rang throughout the empty restaurant.

"I plan to send out a prototype team to Altera Tech in a week's time. It's time that people stopped relying on machines and instead use their own strength in order to protect what's important to them."

"Well, there you have it. We hope to see some results in the upcoming weeks. This is-"

Aisha sighed. Even though she missed most of the interview, what she had heard was enough for her to know that Eve would not be happy.

"_Eve…"_ the purple-haired girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Aisha, can you take out the trash?"

"Coming."

* * *

Aisha released an annoyed grunt when her phone went off for the fourth time. The person she was fighting, a guy harassing a girl in broad daylight, had summoned lackeys out of the shadows of the alleyway he cornered his victim in. She had already put down two of his underlings, which left only him and his last accomplice. The victim was long gone, having already escaped while Aisha was fighting.

"_Time to put my theory to the test."_

Tightening her grip on her staff, Aisha sidestepped the punch the lackey launched at her. He lashed out with his other arm, but she ducked and pressed her staff against his stomach. A soft pink glow was emitted from her weapon, and her opponent was knocked back, slowly falling to the grime-covered cement.

"_Okay, good so far. I feel like I have enough energy. Now comes the hard part."_

The harasser pulled out a knife and lunged forward. Aisha turned around and tapped the guy's wrist. It was only a mere flick, but his hand bent back in an unnatural angle, releasing his weapon from his grip. He howled in pain, and she took that window of time to connect her staff to his chest.

"_Push him back!"_

Her weapon lit up again, this time accelerating her opponent straight into the concrete wall. It crumbled under the impact, and the harasser now laid on a pile of rubble.

She flinched at the damage as she gulped for air. "Crap, that's a lot more power than I thought."

The harasser's lackey, the one who was sluggishly free falling to the ground, got back up and observed the damage Aisha had caused. "W-What the-?! Wait, are you the person who's been beating up thugs on the streets?!"

The purple-haired girl chose not to respond. Instead, she focused on catching her breath, for she didn't know if the guy would pounce on a desperate whim.

Sure enough, he charged at her, fist already raised to his face. Aisha raised her staff to block his attack. A flurry of punches then headed her way, each one aiming for an opening. She blocked and parried with practiced precision, recalling her training with Rena and the way her master moved.

One of his punches led his fist to touch the tip of her staff. The wand glowed, and instead of stopping or slowing the fist down, it increased the speed of his punch, which brushed past Aisha's ear. Seeing the opportunity, Aisha moved the end of her staff to the guy's face, and with another burst of light, he was sent crashing into the end of the alleyway.

Her lungs burned from her heavy breathing, and her head was pounding. The dim sound of her ringtone had been ringing throughout the entire fight.

Aisha picked up her phone.

"H-Hello?"

"_Aisha? Are you all alright? I can hear you breathing heavily," _Eve immediately questioned. There was a tinge of impatience when she said Aisha's name, but it quickly dissolved into worry.

"O-Oh yeah, I'm perfectly fine! This trash bag is just really heavy."

"_Are you at your grandfather's restaurant?"_

"M-Mhmm. Wait, a-are you calling because of-?!"

"_Yes. I have requested your presence about an hour ago, but none of my staff have seen you today."_

Aisha bit back the urge to groan. She had been fighting for that long? "I-I'll be there soon. 30 minutes tops."

"_I would say 'take your time,' but I have something I must discuss with you. It's very important."_

"G-Got it. See you then."

Aisha snapped her phone shut. The harasser began to tremble, slowly recovering from the damage he had sustained. With one last glance at his collapsed form, she left the scene, still trying to bring her breathing back to normal.

* * *

When Aisha entered Altera Tech, Oberon was waiting for her. He bowed once and asked her to follow him quickly. She huffed as she entered the elevator, watching Eve's robot butler press the button with the number 91 with a slightly peeved frown.

"I apologize for placing any undue stress onto you, but Miss Nasod has ordered me to escort you to her personal lab as soon as you've arrived. She seems quite...agitated, though she is trying her best to suppress it."

"That wasn't the impression I got when Eve called me earlier. Did something happen in the time it took for me to get here?"

"From my observations, she hasn't been acting like this until this morning. However, Miss Nasod has always enjoyed your company, Miss Landaar. If there's anyone who can help her, it's you."

Aisha frowned. "I'll see what I can do."

She heard a faint ring as the elevator doors swung open. They traveled up the stairs next to the large fountain and turned left, making their way down the hallway. Aisha didn't have to walk far, for, after a few seconds of walking, Oberon gestured to a door on her left.

"Miss Nasod will be in here. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I can take it from here. Thanks, Oberon."

The male android bowed again and returned the way he came from. Once he disappeared down the stairs, Aisha entered a passcode into the lock, opened the door, and quietly entered the lab. Before her was a large room crowded with many worktables. In one corner, three tables were dedicated to multiple copies of a prosthetic arm, each one missing a significant part, like a palm or several fingers. Another section of the lab had a line of 3D printers. Despite the messy state of the room, the 3D printers were off and untouched. Several drones, four in total, occasionally hovered over the assembly area. Two of them floated to Aisha as she entered the lab, identifying her with their scanners. A large closet holding a multitude of tools and discarded parts sat next to the display of finished androids. Wires took root across the tan, tiled floor.

The assembly area took up the majority of the space. Hemispherical tables with holographic screens surrounded an elevated stage adorned with three mechanical arms. On that stage was an android clad in white with gold, black, and pink trims. Judging from the bulkier stature and stern frown, it was a male model. A crown-like mask covered his face.

Aisha found Eve in the middle of the room, editing several logistical functions pertaining to the android. She stepped over a particularly large wire and weaved her way towards her friend.

"Sorry for the delay, Eve. I came as fast as I can," Aisha greeted.

Eve, in turn, peeked her head over her shoulder for a second before returning her gaze to the holographic screen. She quickly powered the monitor off. "No worries. I had time to work on this while I was waiting. He's almost ready to be activated."

Aisha took a gander at Eve's creation. "Project Code: Thunderbolt. That's the name, right?"

"In technical terms, yes. But I've decided to call him Ferdinand."

"I can't wait to see what he can do. You said that he's gonna be one of your bodyguards?"

"Yes, that's right. After the accident on my birthday, Father's been tightening his grip on what I do and where I go. I haven't stepped foot outside the company ever since my transplant."

At the mention of Eve's accident, a sinking cold invaded Aisha's blood. Flashes of blood blinded her. Steel, the smell of oil. Eve's hair stained red. Her dwindling voice.

Aisha covered her mouth to stop herself from gagging. She didn't notice Eve approach her until she felt a metal hand on her shoulder. As Aisha stared at her friend, her purple eyes latched onto Eve's hair, which had been woven into a pair of side buns. It was the only remnant of Eve's life as a human, and it blended in with her sheer-white skin, her poofy dress, and her conic ears.

Eve was supposed to be dead. The white that permeates her entire being and the coldness of her hand only reminded Aisha that Eve being a cyborg was a miracle.

"Aisha, your heart rate increased drastically just now. That is not a normal phenomenon. Please tell me what's wrong."

The purple-haired intern shook her head and willed herself to calm down. "You're really...alive."

Eve nodded slowly. "Yes, thanks to everyone here. I may look a little different, but I'm still the same Eve that you know."

Eve's words were enough to quell the storm in Aisha's stomach. Her gaze turned back to the incomplete android. The Chief Architect followed Aisha's line of vision.

"I'm glad that you're here, Eve," Aisha said. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Eve frowned. "As you well know, there have been many reports of increased crime activity all across Elysion. Even more worrying is the number of attacks on Altera Tech itself. My accident, as well as the most recent breach into one of our labs, have the citizens beginning to question the effectiveness of our security measures. And so, I have a few ideas to rectify their worries. I propose that we implement security androids into every building. They'll contain a database of every person in Elysion, including their mental health and criminal records."

"So, background checks?" Aisha summarized, "That could help, but only if you use them for the right occasions."

"On the contrary, we should be scanning everyone whenever we get the chance. I was thinking of even adding a function that calculates the probability of someone committing a crime at the moment they're checked."

"What? But that's unfair to the citizens. Just because you detect that they have a high probability of breaking the law doesn't mean that they will!"

"How can we trust that assumption? We've come to a point where we cannot trust the people to regulate themselves. Someone or something malicious has their sights on tarnishing Altera Tech and its reputation. If the people want harsher restrictions, then we will give them just that."

Aisha shook her head as she struggled to process what her friend was saying. "That's not what they want. They want to feel safe, not anxious. Implementing your idea will only fuel their paranoia."

"They are starting to distrust us, Aisha. If we don't take more drastic actions, then they'll see it as neglect."

Aisha couldn't argue against Eve's logic, but even so, she knew that this was not the way to win the people over. "What other ideas do you have?" she reluctantly concedes. Maybe if she heard Eve's other ideas, then she could steer her friend into making a choice that-!

"I was planning on installing a backdoor into every piece of technology that uses our programming to track people whenever we need to."

"That's even worse!" Aisha didn't hesitate to exclaim. "That's an invasion of privacy! If the public ever finds out that such a thing even exists, the backlash will be enough to shut your company down!"

Despite Aisha's heated words, Eve remained calm and composed. She did not even move a muscle. "This backdoor will be impossible for anyone to access unless they are a highly trusted figure in this company. I will not let that possibility happen."

"Did you forget that Altera Tech is currently facing a problem with hackers?! Someone had already snuck their way into one of the labs a few weeks ago!"

"Of course I know about that. That's why we're going to add a feature that lets us detect when our systems are being hacked. We can then use the backdoor to manually fight the hacker."

"But that requires someone to be on the job at all hours of the day."

"That can be easily arranged with a few incentives and a pay raise."

Aisha sighed. "_Eve really did prepare a counter to all of my points…"_

"And I'm assuming this is only a temporary solution?"

Eve nodded. "As much as we want to update our technology so that there are more preventive measures against any outside threats, we don't know how these hackers are bypassing their way in. It's possible that they could even be using magic. With the situation as bad as it is, releasing experimental updates to our software won't be enough to placate the people."

"I still don't think that this is the right path," Aisha argued, "I still stand by my point that people want better security on top of maintaining the status quo. They don't want to compromise their way of life now."

Eve's amber eyes darkened to a citrine color. "Unfortunately for them, what they want and what needs to be done are two completely different things." She kept the glare in her eyes as she continued, "Seeing as you're fervently objecting my ideas, do you have a suggestion that could solve this problem? I hope, for our sake, that you don't consider Hamel Bionics and their foolish idea of deploying supersoldiers."

Aisha chose to bury the bitterness that she had just felt. Was her friend accusing her of siding with the rival company? "I wasn't going to bring them up. Why would I do that?"

"Then, what do you suggest we do?"

As nonchalantly as she could, Aisha shrugged, "You could hire someone who's capable of tracking these invaders down and dealing with them. Maybe like that vigilante that's been in the news."

"So, you want me to leave this matter to someone who we have no information on. Someone who potentially has nothing to gain from helping us." Eve said. If Aisha was presenting in a conference, the appall in Eve's voice would have shut down her presentation at that moment.

Aisha didn't back down. "They're fighting to stop crime in Elysion, right? If they figure out who's behind the recent spike in criminal activity, information that you can give them, then they can go after them. You don't have to raise a finger."

If anything, Aisha's justification only disturbed Eve more. "I cannot do that. We found ourselves in this mess, and it is our responsibility to fix it ourselves. I will not involve someone like that into an issue that's bigger than them."

"_Welp, there goes that idea…" _Aisha felt her head strain with effort. Eve folded her hands over her waist and took a deep breath.

"It seems that I need to reconsider my stance on the matter. If my best friend is disagreeing with me to such a degree, how can I possibly convince my father and the other executives?"

Aisha could only nod. The silver-haired cyborg turned back to her unfinished android.

"You are dismissed, Aisha."

Her curt tone injected more bitterness into the purple-haired girl. Aisha exited the lab and headed to her station, frustrated over the fact that her friend had considered stooping that low.

* * *

Aisha placed the infrared sensor that she had fruitlessly tried to put together for the past four hours onto her cluttered desk. She thought she should get some work done on this robotics project, but no matter how many times she stared at the instructions, her mind would always wander back to her meeting with Eve.

"_Ugh, I can't focus. Is the situation so bad that she thinks she has to go that far?"_

She recalled Eve's clipped words at the end. Eve did not once break her stoic composure, even when her voice became harsher. Aisha wondered if it was because she was a cyborg now, or if Eve was always that good at keeping her emotions in check.

"_It must be that bad. Maybe I went a bit too far. I should probably explain to her that the reason why I brought those points up was that I didn't want her and the company's reputation to suffer any more than it already has. Besides, what was I thinking trying to suggest asking a random vigilante to solve their problems? Now that I think about it, that was incredibly selfish of me."_

Aisha got up from her chair and made her way to the elevator. When she found herself back in Eve's estate, she saw two pairs of shoes disappear up the stairs. With a small frown, she trailed after them, trying her best to reduce the noise that her feet were making against the tiled staircase. Once she entered Eve's section of the estate, she made out two figures toying with the keypad that protected Eve's personal lab. One was a male with white hair, dressed in a white coat. The other was a white-haired woman with striking red eyes.

Before she could gasp, Aisha covered her mouth and hid behind the corner. That woman... she had seen her before. She was the one poking around in one of the labs a week or so ago, the one who gave Aisha her first taste of defeat since obtaining the Ring of Mimir.

"It better be here. I hate how big this place is," a male voice sneered, madness and cockiness brewing underneath an indifferent, mumbly tone.

"See what I mean, Add? I had to search so many floors. It was so frustrating. But I'm not surprised it took us this long to pinpoint its location. With the way you're slamming your poor sensors, they're bound to have a few screws loose," Eun pointed out.

"There must be something in this building that's tampering with my stuff. It doesn't matter. Once I find out what that is, I'll make quick work of it."

"I don't think anything that this company produces can hamper your equipment that easily. We snuck in just fine. It's only when we started tracking the relic that we ran into some...unexpected problems."

"Heh...a relic that can sense danger? Or maybe it has some kind of defense mechanism. I'm going to look forward to dissecting its secrets."

"Don't torture it too much," Eun snickered, "I want to have my fun with it, too."

The man's grin widened when the red light marking the lab as locked changed to green. "You know I'd rather have my possessions alive." He stepped away from the door. "After you."

Aisha knew she couldn't let the two search Eve's personal lab, but her previous fight with Eun reminded her that the gap between her and the mysterious woman was immense. Even with her training under Rena's watchful eye, she wasn't confident that she could fend Eun off. The man with her, on the other hand...Aisha could see two possibilities. He could be Eun's assistant in finding the relic, and in exchange for his help, she would protect him from any threats.

Or he was just as capable of defending himself. He could even be stronger than Eun.

"_I still have to stop them. Even if they're after the relic, that man can steal the technology behind Eve's top-secret project and sell it to whoever's interested. I can't let that happen."_

As the intruders entered the lab, Aisha summoned her staff and slowed time enough for her to sneak into the lab before the door closed. In that brief moment, when Eun's and Add's backs were still turned to her, Aisha decided to target Eun, not wanting to risk fighting someone she had no information about. She swung her staff, aiming for Eun's neck, but she instead hit the shaft of a spear.

"_She's still that fast?!" _

"You're going to do better than that to catch me off guard," Eun taunted, her back still turned to the magical girl. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on a lady?"

"_Shit, can she sense my relic?" _Aisha withdrew her weapon and held it up defensively. Add turned around to face her, and she noticed his intense, magenta eyes first. When he lifted his smile to display a row of perfectly-lined teeth, she didn't miss the way his irises seemed to create a trail of light. Under his white coat was a purple vest, a black tie, and white business pants. Attached to his waist was a thick, monochrome disk. In his right hand was his tracking device: a small block that glowed red at different corners of its surface. Once his device was placed in front of Aisha, the red light crowded towards her.

His grin grew as he registered what his sensor was doing. "Looks like we found what we were looking for."

Eun walked in between them, blocking the man's view of the purple-haired girl. She pensively stared at Aisha as if considering her next move. "You again, hmm? Let me handle her. I wouldn't want your precious coat to get ripped."

Aisha kept her mouth shut. The man glanced at his partner, "Have you bumped into this person before?"

The white-haired woman shrugged and readied her lance. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Eun remembered her. This was bad. If others were starting to recognize her, then this would complicate things outside of crime fighting.

He shook his head. "Why are women such a pain to deal with? Hey, you," he addressed Aisha, "I don't know how or why the relic is in your possession, but now that I have verified that you have it..."

The lab door made a loud locking sound, something that made Aisha whip her head back. She then heard the _biribiri _of electricity as three threads of purple plasma barred the exit.

"_When did he-?!"_

A shadow appeared in her peripheral vision, threatening to slam down into her. With a hastily crafted time deceleration spell, Aisha barely had enough time to block the woman diving onto her with her spear.

"Better reaction," Eun noted. "Still not enough."

The white-haired woman leaped back and launched herself high off the back of one of Eve's inactive security drones. Aisha ran further into the lab, the whoosh of a spear being hurled at her being her only cue to dive out of the way. The spear grazed its target, just barely tearing the threads at the hem of Aisha's lab coat as it drove itself into the hard concrete floor. Aisha recovered, rolling back onto her feet just as her opponent landed and was reunited with her weapon. Slowing her descent, Eun slid along the weapon's length with the alluring grace of a dancer before using the momentum to twist the shaft free and throw it at Aisha once more.

The magical girl could only duck. The projectile barely brushed against the top of her head before it crashed against a barrier created by three diamond-shaped drones. Unlike the security drones hovering around the lab, these were thin, almost as thin as the layers of a mica mineral. The circular design in the center of them glowed with the same unnatural magenta color as Add's eyes.

Eun used that window of time to spring forward, reaching her hand out to grab Aisha's staff. The purple-haired girl tried to free her weapon, but Eun's grip was tight. The crackle of electricity rumbled from behind Aisha.

With a predatory grin on her face, Eun shoved Aisha back. The magical girl whipped her head back and found Add with three of his drones shimmering with plasma. The sound of multiple beams charging accelerated her heartbeat.

She stumbled backwards...and then purposely made herself trip.

Her wand flashed. Aisha could feel herself falling faster. Before her head could hit the floor, three streams of concentrated electricity soared above her. A pulse of pain sprouted in the back of her head, but her attention was focused on a shrill, high-pitched scream.

Aisha lifted herself up enough to see Eun collapsing onto one of the workbenches. Sporadic bursts of plasma raced over her body as she clutched at the burn on her chest. Her normally narrowed eyes were now widened, and her mouth desperately sucked air into her lungs.

Add's attack was meant to cripple her in one strike.

Stunned by the amount of damage Eun had just suffered, the magical girl slowly picked herself up and turned towards Add, who was eyeing her with a slightly miffed expression.

"Tch, it should have been impossible for you to dodge that," he flicked his gaze to Aisha's staff, "How fascinating. Show me more!"

He pressed a button on his disk, and two circular drones brimming with electricity popped out. They hurtled themselves at Aisha, flying at speeds too quick for a normal human to dodge. She swatted one of them away, but the other one grazed her arm. As she grimaced at the pain, the drone she knocked aside came back and swiped against the back of her left leg. As they circled around her, they easily sliced through the workbenches cluttering the lab, destroying everything from monitors to the incomplete prosthetic arms.

This continued for several minutes. Everytime Aisha shifted her attention, the drone she left alone would aim for a vulnerable spot on her body. Her waist, her arms, her legs...even her hair wasn't safe. Blood freely flowed from her wounds and seeped into the tiled floor.

She recognized the vicious cycle Add had trapped her in. If she only focused on one of his drones, the other was free to slice her apart. Because she had smacked one of the drones at the start, she couldn't deal with both anymore.

"_If that's the case…!"_

Aisha ran towards a rebounding drone. She slammed her staff against its clear surface and channeled a bit of her magic into it. The drone banged against the floor, but it bounced back into the air and continued its orbital path around the magical girl. Except, its speed had visibly decreased. She easily sidestepped its next attack and tapped her weapon on its rim, which inserted even more of her magic into it.

As this was happening, the neglected drone continued to swipe at her. However, due to her decelerating the other drone, she was able to minimize the damage she was taking. Once she had bashed the warped drone into the closet of spare parts, she turned her attention to the other drone.

She could deal with it the same way she did with the first one, but she hadn't touched Add yet. If she wanted to force him out of Eve's lab, she would need to show him that retreating was a better option than staying here. And for that to happen, she needed to threaten him.

Aisha began to run. She dashed around the workbenches occupying the lab, making her way over to Add, who had moved himself towards the assembly area. He appeared to be observing the incomplete android, completely unaware of anything around him. The magical girl vaulted over one of the tables with the holographic screens and raised her weapon.

Just before she could connect her attack, she sped herself up and jumped. Leaping over Ferdinand, she willed her powers to accelerate time below her, and the drone chasing her was caught within her spell. As predicted, it changed its trajectory so that it could chase after Aisha, but due to her acceleration spell, it would have to go through Add first.

However, what she didn't account for was an inactive mechanical arm next to Add that suddenly lurched to life and swung the disk-like drone away.

When she landed, another mechanical arm bashed into her sides and sent her flying toward the 3D printers. She banged her head against a desk, while her hand, the one not holding her staff, broke into one of the printers. Aisha tried to pull away, only to find that the 3D printer had turned on and created a plastic handcuff around her wrist, cuffing her to the machine.

"Did you really think the same trick would work a second time?" Add mocked. In the darkness of Eve's lab, the light from his sensor and his eyes seemed to burn with unrestrained malice. He took several, loud steps towards Aisha as if to forcibly inject fear into his victim.

Aisha glared back as she wobbled back onto her feet. "W-Who are you?"

"That's a pointless question. Once I take the relic from you, we'll never meet again. Doesn't that sound great? You don't need to risk your life for something you shouldn't have gotten involved in."

His words crawled under her skin. Flashes of Eve's barely conscious body, smeared with copious amounts of blood, raced through her mind. Fragments of her discussion with Eve earlier stirred her anger.

"It's because of you people that I was forced to get involved!"

Add had the nerve to laugh. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about. All I know is that you have what I want, and you're not handing it to me."

His hand reached for her staff. "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself. It was your choice to get wrapped up in this business. Why else are you keeping me away from my relic?"

Aisha felt the ring react to the sudden burst of rage rampaging inside of her. Her staff glowed for a split second, and her trapped hand surged forward, snapping itself free from the printer. The magical girl surged forward and connected her fist against his face. She made sure to send all of her momentum, her turbulent emotions, into her punch.

His head snapped to the side, and his body, overwhelmed by the amount of force behind her fist, dropped to the floor. She stood over him sucking in air as if she's hyperventilating, as Add's hand shakily cradled his cheek.

"Hehe… Haha. HAHAHA...Now you've done it!" Add snarled as he lifted his head. His eyes were strained, and his teeth were bared again, his lips twisted in a sadistic grin. His diamond-shaped drones hovered over to him, and he opened up a holographic panel. Turning away from Aisha, he typed frantically as a never-ending stream of screens overflowed the panel.

In response, Aisha sprang forward, aiming to disrupt whatever he was doing before he finished. He must have caught her heading towards him, for more of his drones converged in front of him and formed a barrier to block her.

"Too bad," the white-haired man said. He pressed a button on his panel, and the sound of something turning on echoed across the lab.

Ferdinand, Eve's precious, top-secret project, jerked his head towards the magical girl before making his way over to Add's side.

Add relished the look of utter shock on Aisha's face. "Whoever designed this android clearly doesn't know what they're doing. Well, even without any weapons, a metal fist to the face will still hurt!"

The android rushed, fists raised, at Aisha. Her staff released a small pulse of light as she sidestepped to her right, barely able to dodge his attack. Ferdinand, unable to stop himself, chopped the table housing the 3D printers in half.

Aisha retreated to the center of the lab. She could barely draw air into her lungs, and blood was still flowing from her arms and legs.

"_I-I don't think I have the stamina to fend off Ferdinand. I have to get out of here. But how do I disable the barrier barring the exit? I don't know what's powering it, and if I touch the electricity, I'm done for."_

The magical girl, instead of facing Ferdinand, dashed to the entrance of the lab. Hearing Ferdinand's footsteps behind her, Aisha focused on the barrier, noticing how there's a small gap at the bottom, small enough for her to slide under.

"_My best bet has to be blowing the door open and sliding my way out…"_

She recalled the fight she had earlier that day, where she blasted someone through a brick wall. "_If I'm able to do the same thing here, it might just work. But what do I use as my projectile?"_

Aisha took a small peek over her shoulder, trying to quickly spot anything that might work, but all she could see was Ferdinand rapidly approaching her.

"_...I have no choice. I'm sorry, Eve. I promise to help you rebuild him later."_

Aisha stepped out of the way just before she could touch the plasma barrier. She sped her body up one last time and dashed around the incoming android so that she was behind him. Pressing her staff against his back, Aisha concentrated the rest of her energy into her spell.

"_Blast him away!"_

The light from her staff blinded her. Ferdinand was sent flying towards the strands of cackling plasma. The sudden contact with the high-voltage barrier transmitted a wave of electrical currents into his metal frame. His face bashed into the door, and seconds later, he exploded. A cloud of heavy smoke blocked Aisha's view of the exit, but she couldn't hesitate. Covering her nose and mouth, she sprinted into the mass of black smoke as the sound of the alarm system pierced her ears. The magical girl dropped down and slid under the barrier and out of the lab.

"_I'm finally free-!"_

A sharp jolt of pain erupted in her left leg. She tripped, landing face-first into the floor. The last thing she could see before she passed out was the giant spear wedged into her ankle.

Eun limped out of the lab and pulled her lance out of Aisha's leg. Add glanced down at the unconscious girl with a dissatisfied frown. At first, his hand reached for her staff again, but once he heard the elevator door down the hall ring open, he instead grabbed Eun's arm and wrenched his accomplice back into the lab. He used his drones to cut open a hole into the wall overseeing the city, and they jumped off, disappearing into the sea of lights below.

* * *

Elsword could barely stand the sight before him. He, along with the other officers, had secured the perimeters as if the job was paperwork, but everything slowed down once a few of his co-workers came down with a stretcher carrying his girlfriend.

Numerous injuries caked her body. Cuts of varying depths oozed blood all over her arms, legs, and stomach. Her work clothes were stained beyond repair. The skin over her left wrist was an itchy red color. But the most egregious of her wounds was the hole in her left ankle.

They couldn't get her to wake up. Passed out from exhaustion, they said. As they lifted the stretcher into the back of an ambulance, Elsword gritted his teeth.

"_How could this happen? Altera Tech was supposed to be the most secure place in Elysion. Why did this happen to her?!"_

Meanwhile, Eve observed Elsword with a disheartened gaze. While they hadn't interacted as much, she knew of their relationship. Any guy would be distraught at the sight of their loved ones in such a bad shape.

But Eve was more concerned about something else.

"I feel bad for her," she heard one officer say, "Getting assaulted that badly while working at the best security company...there's no doubt that Altera Tech isn't going to recover from this."

"If she wasn't safe from these attacks, then no one is," another whispered.

"From what we gathered from the investigation, the cameras within the scene were disabled, so we have no idea what happened. All we know is that something exploded and triggered the alarm…"

"Guess we have to wait until she wakes up. What a pain."

"You know, once Hamel Bionics get the news, they're gonna pounce on the opportunity to convince the masses even further on their plan to deploy supersoldiers. This could be the start of a new era in Elysion."

"Hey, stop talking and get back in there! We still haven't searched every corner of the place yet!"

Eve glowered at the officers as they clumsily returned to their work. "_They take us for fools. They think us complacent. I'll prove them wrong. Whether Aisha approves of it or not, I can't sit idly by and let others hurt her or any of our citizens. Mark my words, I won't hesitate anymore."_

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was written by MiraiAkina! So ALL the credit goes to her and her work! Please check her other stories out! They're really good!**

**So where have I been? Here. I've been here. Like half a year ago MiraiAkina and I started talking about doing a story swap for a bit of fun and helping each other write by giving each of our stories a fresh new perspective. As of a few months earlier, we put the plan into motion which was why I had disappeared off the radar for a little bit. Not gonna lie, writing a chapter to a completely new and foreign story was a lot harder than I thought and I probably bugged the author like every other day just to make sure I got all the details right. (Oh and if you'd like to read the story I participated in, it's called "Monochrome Precure" and is a crossover pokemon/precure fanfic. Super fun mixing a magical girl trainer within a pokemon universe.)**

**That being said the next story to update is "Our Inner Demons". It's actually half done now so hopefully it'll be finished and edited in a week! You can expect more updates more often now that I've started clearing my other obligations so get excited!**

**Finally, this story will be updated at a slower pace. I really want to finish OID before i start worrying about other big projects. But until then let me know what you think of the story, especially how our guest has done! She's done above and beyond my expectations and I feel she deserves all the love!**


End file.
